In Norse mythology, the origin of poetry and inspiration is explained through the story of Kvasir, the first creation of the gods who walked among men. The gods established peace with the Vanir by spitting into vats, then shaping the peace token into a man called Kvasir, who was so wise that none could question him. When the dwarves Fjalar and Galar murdered him and let his blood run into vats and a kettle, they blended honey with his blood to create the mead of poetry. This mead, called the dwarves' drink or the fairy boat of the dwarves, became the source of poetic inspiration. The giant Sutung later stole this mead and placed it in a secret place called Nidavellir, guarded by his daughter Gunlod. This story explains why poetry is considered a divine gift and why poets use kennings (poetic metaphors) to reinforce their word magic upon the world.
7/15/26 Victory Never Sleeps, Ep 210 - Prose Edda: Skáldskaparmál, Part 1
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Hello everyone and welcome to this week's edition of Victory Never Sleeps.
Today happens to be the day of remembrance for our true hero Alexander Rudd Mills. So I figured we would I don't know just start the show by recognizing that mentioning him um through producer Nick some pictures.
Uh, one of the things that is for anybody who does not know, he was born in 1885 and during the early part of the 20th century, isolated from others doing this or anything adjacent, he blazed a pathway for our folk in Australia and you couldn't be much further in the world from our ancestral homelands.
And he decided that his folk our folk needed this or you know his his version of this that he put forth there. He uh against all odds he got folks together to worship our gods and to practice in a time where he was literally all alone starting fresh getting this off the ground there.
And it was a difficult time because a lot of things were cracked down on during the Second World War and that made his job a lot harder. He was a poet and an author as well as his day job being a barristister.
And his stream of this was particularly important in a couple of ways. It was different than others.
his his efforts in pioneering this had a distinctly modern when I say modern um contemporary I guess feel to it. There was none of the reenactment kind of face. There was none of the I guess what cynical people would call laring portion of it at all. as a a man of his time, a successful man of his time in the the dress of his time, engaging in religion in a way that was contemporary to his time, but realizing that our gods and our faith is eternal and timeless.
he didn't go through the same phase of historical fetishism that has characterized some other people's efforts. So it was really inspirational for him to have skipped that whole stage that so many other people went through and to upon its outset practice our faith in a very contemporary and relevant way to his time. And I found I've always found that very inspirational, continue to find it inspirational. And uh yeah, we want to acknowledge him on his day of remembrance. And it is fortuitous that it happens to be uh on a night that we have victory never sleeps. So hail Alexander Red Mills.
Um, anybody who is curious, uh, and Nick can get this link up because he's quick draw on it, but our days of remembrance are laid out at runstone.orgmbrance and it's got kind of the full calendar of our days of remembrance for our house of true heroes. Yeah, it's a fun thing to check out if it's something you're not familiar with or if you want to get your bearings on what's coming up and when we celebrate.
Um, also in the uh in the chat room, we are joined by uh Rol06.
I have seen all of your comments on so many of the stuff that we post on our channel. I appreciate you digging in and I'm glad you made it on the chat room tonight. Welcome. Um, other stuff before we start, I will be joining the good folk at Thorhoff celebrating uh, cigar bloat here this coming weekend. So, uh, if you can make it there, that is in Lynen, North Carolina.
It's an amazing time. I hope that you, you know, make it there whenever you can, but I would love to have the opportunity to meet you if I haven't or to shake a hand, give you a hug if I've already met you and celebrate victory with you. So, I will be there. Love to see you then. Um, other news and notes, I'm going to talk about our normal fundraising things that I, you know, mention to you guys.
first uh pavilion at Cigar coming along nice. Uh we're almost third of the way there towards that total that we're trying to raise. Again, this pavilion awesome. We're looking forward to having it up and ready for Haria Bloat this year. Um but you guys have been very generous. If you would like to help with any of these things, donate, you can donate at runstone.org.
slashdonate.
But um yeah, so we're at what 28% and change on that one. Also on our paying off Freyhoff, which I'll remind you we just dedicated on the 6th of December, 2025, we are already 45.3% paid off with that. So uh thank you guys all for that. I think if each AFA member were to pony up $93 today, that would be all the way paid off just as an idea of how to chunk it. Um, other other things.
So, this all right.
Uh, people who are familiar with the program and have heard me on here, I have mentioned over and over and over again, and I'll do it again now. Get a will done.
Don't care how old or how young you are.
Get your will done. Uh you can get your will done at do your own will.com.
That is legally binding and acceptable in all of the states the United States of America as well as some pro provinces in Canada. And I haven't checked it may be completely valid for other places as well. Get one, get it done. It's very easy. It takes about 5 minutes. It can take as long as you want if you got a bunch of complicated things, but it doesn't have to get it get originals signed and not notorized and send a copy to our law speaker so that we can help advocate for you and your wishes in the circumstance that you might pass. I've mentioned a lot of the time that AFA members have neglected to do this when they find themselves at the end of their life. And I've seen far too many that have not gotten what they wanted done.
So, you may have uh you may recall not too long ago a member of ours, Melinda Harris, passed away and she was one of those many who had a terminal uh disease and she knew that her end was coming and she was not able to get one uh made in time. But she expressed to us what she wanted done uh with her remains and and you know with dealing with yeah basically with her remains and her final resting place. Um the tragedy of that was she never wrote it down anywhere. She didn't have any document. So kind of got into the system and uh had fairly distant relations with her with her family and uh so we thought for sure that that ship had sailed and that she was not going to get what she wanted. Um the body was was taken by whoever stepped in in the county or whatever and put in the system and dealt with. Well, it turns out last month we got a request to help with the cost of cremation for her and that opened up the conversation. We would love to help take care of that cost, but we would like to make sure that we honor her the way she wanted to be honored and have her ashes uh brought to us and interred at Odinhoff Cemetery.
So, that was agreed upon and um that's what's going to happen, but we'd appreciate all of our AFA family's help in making sure that uh one of our AFA sisters gets what she wanted in uh her final resting place here in Vidyard. So with that said, we are raising some funds to take care of her cremation, >> the transport of her remains to Odinhoff and uh a simple earn. She will be provided a headstone by she's a veteran, so Department of Defense will get her squared away with the uh marker she's entitled to. And yeah, we will be able to interper there with honor and uh love at Odin's soft. So any uh that's going to run us probably 2,200 is what it looks like. I know that sounds like a lot and it is, but that's kind of the open rate. We did check it out to make sure. Um if we're able to negotiate any of that down, we will, but if not, that's what we're looking to raise. You guys have already been very generous. Um, but yeah, if anybody is interested, you can again donate at runstone.orgdonate.
Um, >> here it goes.
>> I see I see the difference there, but donate will get to it and that's confusing, so I didn't want to throw a different uh name for the website at the folks. Um, I mean, is that what you were coming at me with fawn? I'm sorry. No, I I was absolutely going to let everyone know like yes, the the the cost oferary.
Um there was a brief stint where I was attempting to go into the mortuary services. I did not. It's one of the jobs I didn't do, but I I did uh a heavy amount of research and um the uh cremation costs uh though lower than burial and casket. um are you know again quite expensive if and I don't think a lot of people know it just because perhaps they haven't encountered that in their lifetime but I I I wanted to bring up one point is that living alatru and you're not if you're not sure on where to start holding bloat and giving gift to our heroes is one of the best ways to start and then of ensuring your end of life process um ensuring the legalities of it. Those are two things that I think any beginning uh would would want to consider doing immediately um in order to get into the community.
>> And speaking of uh Gilbert, you are awesome. We appreciate you. Gilbert just donated $150 towards uh getting getting Melinda taken care of. So, thank you.
>> And from me, I will say if you could do the math and look at the amount on the thermo, I messed up on the remaining, it's a typo, it's 1860 remaining.
Uh minus the 150 thanks to uh Gilbert.
>> Nice.
>> All right. So, don't don't mind Nick's fake news. Um, but no, we appreciate that. Uh, I should note for anybody who may not know, maybe just joining us, that is something really special with us having hoffs and, you know, sacred land of our own.
We are there to do womb blessings and acavaties, which is our baby naming ceremonies.
We do marriages, we do funerals, and we are able to uh enter the ashes of our loved ones in uh cemetery spaces at each of our hoffs. Every one of our hoffs is equipped and ready for that. Um, and excuse me, I'm getting over some kind of cough, but um, Odinhoff, Thorshoff. Um, all right. So Odin Hoff was our first um opportunity to inter one of our loved ones and we have uh three of our loved ones interred there now soon to be four when uh Melinda makes her way there. Um Thorshoff were set up and ready.
Thorhoff had a uh graveyard attached to it that was separated on the sale of property and is still maintained by the former congregation that owns that property currently, but it came with um the remains of uh one of their very early members of that congregation that passed. So, uh we have Mr. Philip Befay who is buried there and we we take care of that plot and you know as our people pass and we need to inter them there uh we've got a spot for them. At uh Baldershoff we have not yet had somebody who has wanted their uh their remains interoured there.
At New Yorkshoff we have two of our loved ones interoured there.
um none so far at Freysoff because as I mentioned we only dedicated it this last December and we have folks uh entered at Sigerhang which will eventually be the home of Tears Hoff. So that is an option and you know whatever your dec and so this another important thing while I'm on it on the wills do what you want like you can do what you like with your remains or with whatever you'd like for aerary situation whatever you want to do with your assets all of that we just want to make sure that you get what you want and I've seen too many of our folk not have that will in place and not end up getting what they wanted. And we're very committed to fixing that. So, you know, don't think it only applies if you want an AFA funeral or if you want to be interred at one of our plots or I don't know what whatever connection with the AFA on that you want or don't. As one of our folk, we would love to help make sure you get what you want with the final disposition of yourself and your assets and that literally your will gets executed. So keep that in mind. Um that's what I got for the top of the program. um before. So Swan and I have spent the last over half of a year now uh going through uh the gift from beginning.
So this first time in a long time we have started a new piece.
Uh tonight we will be starting the uh scout scapod and it basically is the language of poetry.
So part of it is uh expository about some of our lore. A lot of it is instructional on different poetic ways of phrasi which is or hate which is um alternate names for stuff kind of nicknames but with a lot more poetic meat to it. Um and it's important it's important a number of ways. So, something that is really special about Iceland, um, not only did it produce its favorite son, Spawn Herald, but it, uh, preserves our lore and some cultural touchston in a very special way. Um, linguistics The art of speaking, the art of poetry has been enshrined as a national treasure in Iceland. And they have done amazing work to preserve and care for a poetic and a literary tradition that spanned into the, you know, the last era of our faith and our ancestors day and of those traditions. And that's one of the reasons that it's come down to us so beautifully in the sagas and the etas the way that we have was because of this tradition of Icelandic uh preservation of poetry. Um and that is kind of the backdrop to which this is is presented to us today. Swan uh I will you can take it from here. What do these folks need to know before we get into the meat of it and before I hand off?
Uh, veloc.org is where we're going to be reading from.
Um, this is in the pros eta. Feel free to follow along wherever you want to find it in whatever translation you like or whatever works best for you. But Swan and I will be working off of the uh translation presented at fisbow.org.
Swan, all yours. Yeah, I was going to say too I I find the comparison of Rome to Greece very much howruu of modern day to Iceland. It's not that uh others were discounted, but that the culmination of of philosophical knowledge in Greece influenced the Romans so greatly. It's the same as our our folk nation, our folk religion is deeply influenced by that culmination of of all that knowledge um being the last bastion of worship. We're not discounting the English or the Germanic or um even the the migration period tribes, but no one can go but so far before you end up backdropping into the language and the structure of our faith in the Nordic context. And I know that that kind of um does irk some people, but the truth is still the truth. Um so I always find that you know when we see the the Romans how they um lent into the Greeks it is very much akin to the same concept. Um so we're doing the scal uh skull de scalpers uh which literally means poet creation edicts or speech. Um so it's the it's the creations of poetry and this is more of a classified sense but it is kept in a story format and that's because the tradition of Germanic poetry which we can also reverse assume or presume I I guess would be the better word that the Germanics and the Anglo-Saxons and the migration period um were also filled with this but were not really remarked or marked down. Um because we see these consistently over and over and over again. Um there are some people who try to discredit it and say that this is simply the complete construction of Snory uh Stuttler or uh Simonur and the reality uh they try to say oh you know these Christian monks basically created they're they're attempting to devalue but the sheer pattern recognition of the way that Germanic poetry works and the volume of it. There was, I think, very little intrusion and a lot of simply getting it down. It was so important to Simonur and to Snory and to all of the students of their school of literary works and it was not based entirely on religion. um as even then Icelanders were not particularly Christian and they that had always been a point of contention for the Catholic Church in Norway. But um so this is the edicts of the poet and it predominantly takes place in a very interesting setting. Uh it is in the hall of Ay who is the lord of the deep oceans. He is a yacht. And for everyone and I've said this numerous times and I will say it over and over and over again. Yes, there are many etmological sources that point towards certain uh deconstructive and consumptive points of the yacht. But the biggest thing for anybody who's new to Alatetru, when you hear the word yacht, you should simply think ancient being.
They're not a different uh race of people in a sense there. No, they're an ancient being that preceded the Iser in their construction and it preceded their their formulation, their desires. that uh Lord Oin of course comes from Yachtin descent though not of Imir. He comes from the Yachtton of Nivelheim the primordial ancient beings and I I I like to dispel a lot of that confusion because I think people try to weaponize that in various ways. Um so Aay is the lord of the deep ocean. Now this is comparative to another Aryan religion which is the helenics. They everyone is familiar with Neptune or or uh Pedon or Poseidon.
Um and the the Titan like Yoten uh or Yan uh is Oceananis where we get the word ocean from. And uh in the helenic cultural stories of the divine gods of the Aryan peoples um they do a kind of a a replacement um and and not so much through war but through imprisonment. So there's some interesting parallels but you know we can see cultural differences. Uh whereas in our faith and our stories, the cultural understanding that was passed down to us by Kasier and by uh King Gelfie and uh the stories from beyond uh the reckoning of of writing. Um Ayid is an ancient being who is brought under control of the gods of heavenly order and natural law. But he is very much primordial. There's a reason why there are things in the ocean that have been around since uh Imir was alive, if you will.
Um, so when they bring the ocean under yoke through oath and it it's it's a tenative piece and from that point though there is a the the setting is the me hall in the ocean. Uh the cauldron there of course being a the the great symbol of the center of the ocean, that that kind of anchoring point that the gods bring into the ocean and place their dominion. And there the gods go and they feast with a um it's spelled a e g i r. You'll often hear people say a gear. Um but Ayer is um the lord of the deep ocean and he is comparative to the helenic oceanianis.
Now, Braggi is the lord of poetry, uh, music and meter, uh, numeric meter.
And I often, um, try to encourage people to think of Lord Braggi as even going into mathematics and musical compositions, um, in in a numeric sense. So we have the lord of poetry speaking to the host in the deep ocean. And this kind of is the idea that there is a yacht who is now brought into alignment with the gods through oath. And he's learning about the way of the Isir, the way of the gods that are the Isir and the the Vanir who become one. And so he's um new to all of this and and this exchange, but he has ancient knowledge as well. So for everyone here to think about the setting is the mead hall and the host is engaging with the scald the scald of scalds. Uh the scald of the gods. Um and what ends up happening is as alerti saidi is your station. Um but it can also mean your your pseudonyms. um the things you have gained by action that you know calling Lord Oin the valad the the the the uh chooser of um the slain or the chooser of those who are elevated um is because that's what he does. It's it's from his deeds. So we will be going over a lot of different heightiy and I think also too it's worth noting that this will also explain why I've spoken about cosmology being different for our ancestors than it is for us today but yet how they are completely integrated.
So um scald scalpers mo section one seeks out the home of the iceir.
A certain man was named or he dwelt on the island which is now known as Isisle.
and was deeply versed in black magic.
So, right out the gate, it's worth noting that this is aization.
This is based off of the Greek uh philosopher who believed that the stories of the gods of old um were humans. Um, I think that this was done to minimize but also correlate since the new religion that was coming in was based off of a mortal living in the Levant and was based around mortal people um who were subjected to Rome etc. So there needed to be kind of this wrangling down. Um, when you hear things like this though, the biggest point I would say for everyone is the black magic part is referencing to a a a wildness and a danger that is present. The yins are always seen in that sense and he is brought into uh the knowledge of the gods but it it's with a air of warning even though this is you hemorized into more mortal frameworks. So he is uh deeply versed in black magic. He took his way to h excuse me. Yes. And uh the uh mentioning of the hall in the ocean, I got it reversed. And bear in mind that happens all the time. I uh I I know a lot, but I don't know everything. And so sometimes I get things mixed up. Um so he makes his way to But the Iser had fornowledge of his journey and he received with good cheer.
He was received with good cheer. And yet many things were done by deceit, with eye illusions. And at evening, when it was time for drinking, Oven had swords brought into the hall so bright that light radiated from them, and other illuminations was not uh was not used while they sat at drinking. Uh a couple of other things. This is another layer of the uhememorization is is not only were the powerful gods of cosmic nature really just humans, but they were humans of deceit. They were humans that had uh magical powers that tricked people into uh believing that they were gods. And that is again another re-emphasization of the uhemoristic practice of trying to make the gods human. Um and by this time too as this is being uh written and read uh the faith in the gods had diminished greatly. So they were kind of driving home um and didn't want any sense of the gods being placed back in the consciousness of the folk at the level that they were. So um he brings swords into the hall and they are so bright that they there is no other illumination. We do this often during our sumble with candles and we uh turn off all artificial light. Um so they're they're in essence having a sumble or they're having a festival uh a drinking session.
Then the ice is came into their banquet and in the high seats sat them down.
Those 12 Isir who were appointed to be judges.
These were their names. Thor, Nord, Fra, Tier, Heim, Toddler, Braggi, Vari, Utler, Honer, Forseti, and Loki.
And in like that manner the senior friya gavon eun gerder sikon furla nana.
It seemed glorious to Ayer to look about him in this hall. The ways coating there were all hung with fair shields. There was also stinging me copiously quafted.
The man seated next to Ay was Braggi and they took part together in drinking and converse. Braggi told Ay of many things which had come to pass amongst the Isir.
So one, it's a very beautiful setting of what I think manyer who have been to Sumble would immediately recognize. The other point is that the 12 that are mentioned here are not a copy of the 12 mentioned in the Gilva Guin, but that it is worth noting that the ultimate indicator of uh the icier unto themselves is their judgment seats at the well. And in this time, this is before the kins slaying that is committed by Loki. Um, so it just kind of gives you more of a time reference in a in a way. Um, but I don't think that people should get caught up on, oh, it's not following the exact No, the this is the the case for the the the party. In a way you could look at it as not everyone was able to be there or you know and there is other people there that uh perhaps you know were destined to fall out of grace from the gods but at this moment they're there. So um this is Braggi and he begins to speak. He speaks of a story. Now why is this being done? It's because the ultimate purpose of this whole uh corpus of lore is to teach about poems and poetic structure to new poets. We spoke about that during the Snorty Stutlers um episode where Snorty was in essence angling for the return of the scald in Norwegian uh courts. and he was angling that there would be a time in which Icelanders would be a fixture in a court uh in the Nordic lands and they should know all of the ancient stories um of their ancestors. And I think a the reason why a lot of this didn't come to pass other than the politics of the age was also to the the threat that this this uh yearning towards pre-Christian ancestry posed to the church and to the political systems at the time.
>> Before we go forward because we're at kind of a break. Um, Ronald Blake, thank you very much. He donated $100 towards uh taking care of uh Melinda. We appreciate that very much. Thank you for that. Um, we'll get back to it. I think we're going to read uh this next chunk about uh Thazi uh carried off Adun.
and then we will hit some of the questions that we've got stacking and we'll kind of do that a little bit throughout the program. So if you've asked a question know that we will get to it. It just uh you know if they're immediately relevant to the text we kind of hit them right then and if not we try to break you know the top of the hourish to clear some questions before we proceed a little bit. So with that, carry on.
>> And and these stories are also elsewhere in the lore. These are highly condensed versions with the purpose of being given to the scald. So bear that in mind as well, folks. Um and you know, if any of these interest you, I encourage you to go and read the full poems. So the giant Theazi carried off Eun.
He began the story at the point where three of the Iser Odin and Loki and Honer departed from home and were wandering over the mountains and the wastes and food was hard to find. But when they came down to a certain dale, they saw a herd of oxen.
They took one ox and set about cooking it. Now when they thought it had must be cooked, they broke up the fire, and it was not cooked. After a while had passed, they having scattered the fire a second time, it still was not cooked.
Then they took counsel together, asking each other what it might mean. when they heard a voice speaking in the oak tree up above them declaring that he who sat there confessed he had caused the lack of virtue in the fire. So through magic, a yacht is in the form of an eagle and he says that the reason why the meat is not cooking is because of him presumably because he has control and that the the gods are in Yenheim at this time. And this kind of goes along with the cosmology of our ancestors seeing the gods on him in Pier on the mountains of heaven. And they walk down and they pass over rivers and they either go into the land of men or they go into um the the land of the ancient ones, the yachts. And so in this case that is and this is of course uh uh another interesting point is the traveling of Lord Oin and Loki. Um but we see this happen uh throughout our stories. So there's these pairings and I there is significance but we'll we'll go with the story as as it is.
We'll also take a moment to thank uh Stephen in Japan for his donation of $15 towards helping to take care of uh Melinda. Thank you for that, Stephen. We always appreciate your donations on program. Carry on.
>> So he said that he was the one blocking the virtue of the fire and stemming its energy away from this meat.
Then the eagle said, "If ye are willing to give me my fill of the ox, then it will cook in the fire." They asented to this. Then he let himself float down from the tree, and immediately the fire was ellighted, and forth with at the very first took unto himself the two hams of the of the ox, the two uh great legs, and both shoulders.
This angered Loki. Loki snatched up a pole, brandished it with all his strength, and drove it at the eagle's body. The eagle plunged violently at the blow and then immediately took to flight so that the pole was fast to the eagle's body and Loki's hand fast to the other end of the pole. So, he's stuck now.
Again, magic. He's unable to remove the the the stick from the eagle's body and his hands are held fast. The eagle then flew with such a height that Loki's feet down below knocked against the stones and the rock heaps and the trees and he thought his arms were going to be torn from the shoulders as he's drugg over the heath in Yotenheim.
The eagle flew uh he he uh he cried aloud. He intreated the eagle urgently for peace. But the eagle declared that Loki should never be loosed unless he would give him his oath to induce Eun to come out of Asgard with her apples.
Loki ascented and being straight away loosened went to his companions.
Nor for that time are any more things reported concerning this journey until they had come home. So now we set the the the motive and the plot of or the instigation of the entire story as he is drugged across the heaths. He can't be uh let go. And the true goal of the eagle Yoten is to find the very heart of the gods, the very source of their life and continuence and have her be lulled out of heaven so that he may take her. So when he returns that deed or that deal is not mentioned and he has to carry that with him until they get back.
So at the appointed time, Loki then lured Ean out of Asgard into a certain wood, saying that he had found such apples that would seem to her a great virtue, and prayed that she would have her apples with her, and compare them with these.
Then Theazi the giant came there in eagle's plumage and descended upon Eden and flew away with her off to Thimheimr to his abode.
So obviously we have the the legend and the body of the story being built in a format that is very uh akin to most European stories um slightly hemorized and easily uh attached into into the the audience's mind. This is um so much is going on that can simply be understood. Um now is there more in a cosmic level? Is there the sense that of course Edun is the bearer of the golden apples? There is always the the the lynchpin of all of the gods of the Aryan faiths having a sustenance that they eat from like humans eat food from the land around them. The holy gods do take in and it is gold or and light. It is the apples. Um, and a lot of folks don't realize, uh, like when they hear the name Eden, they immediately think that there might be some connection with Eden in the Bible. Um, but there are no apples ever mentioned in the Bible. It's it's mentioned as a fruit and it was probably a pomegranate considering the local being um, Babylon or Iraq as kind of the the backdrop of the story. Um but even those stories take on these kind of mythical times if you will. And so now we have the setup that he is taking um the heart of the gods into um and then we move to section three. Do you want me to uh press on?
>> Negative. I want to get to some of these questions. We got a few and I'd like to go ahead and knock them out.
Um from Caleb, does it make a significant difference to donate smaller amounts more consistently or larger amounts yearly if the total sum is the same?
Does the answer change if the total sum is greater for the yearly amount? Um so to the first question no as far as general the only so the caveat is this if it is a timely thing like Melinda's um dealing with her remains and getting her interred at the Hoff there's a time frame on there's a certain amount of time to uh pay the the crematory services to get possession of her remains and to inter them hopefully that is in a few months.
So something yearly on a um something that's going to be resolved in a short term may miss that opportunity as far as general donations to the Astro Folk Assembly. No, it doesn't matter if all things being equal, it doesn't matter if that's done monthly, yearly, quarterly.
We even have now some people who do that weekly. So any of that doesn't matter.
It's kind of whatever um whatever you would like to do. Uh to your second question though, you could only give once a year, but that total be greater than doing 12 monthly things, then the the higher total is always going to be the best. We are financially solvent enough to where one donation or one person's donations aren't going to um make the difference in solveny. So, whatever would be the greatest amount total um would be the the best uh the best way of or I guess the most Sorry, I'm tripping over my words way more than I should be on this. Yeah, more money is better than less money over whatever the time period is, but thank you for asking that and uh thank you for, you know, considering donations to us. We appreciate that quite a bit.
Ah, Vanah Vibes, are you allowed on base to serve spiritual services to our soldiers?
Um, it's been a long time. I would assume the answer is yes. The only point of reference that I have was I was allowed at the uh Myiramar National Cemetery on the installation in San Diego to do a funeral there a number of years ago now, but um I had the honor of doing that and that went off with no problems. So I assume that is still the case.
Swan, have you ever um had to get on an installation to do uh any spiritual services?
>> I have been talking to uh a gentleman out in the on the West Coast technically um though he's currently on deployment and he was asking and is pushing for the same things. But what what I think the clarity of the question would be is that there are no chaplain but chaplain are obligated to ensure that the troops have religious um consolidation and considerations. So uh there are a couple things you could do.
One of course is reach out to your local folk builder and um the other is uh you could speak to your chaplain if you are in the military. The the other point is is that unfortunately because of the the transient nature of the military that people move in and out so swiftly that one of the things that could be done is uh you know lay members could create uh points of contact much like as if they were to create a kindred um where folks uh that are als and our fulkish can come together and give honor to the gods and then organize from there. Uh the idea of like building the local group that reaches out to the folk builder and works with the chaplain but it is still very very um adaptive because the situation is so spread out. Um I think that this is a huge advancement though. We know that Aatru is recognized but there there takes some organizational points on the folk uh at the bases and in the individual branches because there's no no chaplain core that's dedicated to uh alsetru. There are many chaplain who are familiar with houseatru and if getting them to reach out to us or getting a folk builder to have the ability or a or a goi orgivia that's nearby to uh work in that area is absolutely possible but the infrastructure isn't set there from the military side at all.
>> All right so next question is black magic like voodoo. Haha, I see what you did there. Um, but is there any more that you would like to say to what's referred to in the start of the text as black magic? What kind of >> what sort of arts are included in this definition of black magic?
>> So, uh, the the usage of the word black isn't even there. Um, black magic in its connotations as kind of nefarious magic, but the magic that is being referred to is is is ill or malicious magic. Um, and I think that that had far more connotations in the later Nordic period where Christianity was was becoming far more prevalent is that magic, all magic, anything that wasn't, you know, ordained by the church was considered malicious, evil, or, you know, able to open up um some sort of uh kind of uh in the armor of of the uh sovereignty of of Christianity and it still holds today. You see many of them acting like this on on uh online and we even see it in some of the kind of internet circles that discuss our religion and they they try to classify um magic that is say from a gender as being specifically bad or or what have you. But the reality is this. The uh masculine and feminine in our lore have all been connected to magic of healing, magic of wisdom, and also magic of malice. And sometimes uh of of all three, but it's just the fact that he's wellversed is the part that is really important there. is well-versed in magic with malicious intent which builds the air of danger. Clearly there he's he's up to no good.
Yeah. Um just a little look at it. The word they actually use um finger which is a combination of f which is uh many much or great and uh ker meaning knowing learned acquainted with um and the combination word means like knowledgeable about sorcery um so that Yeah, that would be anybody who is so and it's funny because it's an issue of terminology um because I the uh the Christians of the time they would believe there's they would not refer to it as good magic but there's magic that the priests do.
And then there's, you know, the black magic that either refers to um other religious traditions or to, you know, spooky witchcraft. So it could be any of those things. Um so another question is there a reemergence of Alcatru in modernday Iceland?
That is a complex question.
So there was in parallel with ours until into the '9s um the also felith is was founded as a very legitimate um alsatru institution there. Um and a number of our heroes were uh involved in that founding. Um it lost its way when it ousted one of the last of the uh original founding founding Gothar and uh installed a professed atheist into their position of leadership and as an organization they don't take it too seriously. It's about stories and heritage and archypical kind of understanding but their uh their uh Aleria goi there has openly said that they don't really believe in the gods and I say that I their founders certainly did and I believe probably quite a few of their members do that is the option that presents itself to in Iceland so I assume that um sincere pious aletru find their way into that organization but as an organization it's become much more about you know wokeism and gay marriage than it is about the gods or about piety but again it is supported by the taxes in Iceland so it is kind of institutionalized there in a way and I'm not sure about the internal politics or if there's you know a group involved or a you know coalition of of practitioners there that are devout aletature or not. I'm certain there are some in in Iceland. But yeah, it's a complex question because it is grow technically it is the fastest growing religion. But what that means is there is a church tax there. So a portion of your tax money will go to a church regardless.
So if you don't want it to go to the Lutheran church, then having it go to this silly Viking thing keeps the money away from the Christians.
And that explains a lot of its growth. But like I said, I I believe there are probably there are probably many devout there. So, I wouldn't want to um take that from the whole island of Swan's birth, but uh yeah, some some that some that chew the rotten shark do worship the gods. I would love for those folks to uh find the Austrian folk assembly >> and uh hopefully they will at some point. respond. Do you have more to uh add for your your countrymen and their uh current situation in in regards? True.
>> Yeah, I would I would encourage any uh Icelander who um is aware of the sacredness of what it means to be Icelandic in Iceland. Um and and please folks bear in mind too and we joke about it but uh I am I I am very much American. I, you know, my family calls me the American uncle, um, the Amariki.
And um but you know I would encourage folks in Scandinavia who are definitely working in a a different environment where there there can be a lot of pressure but you know you are free to do these things and you can gather and gather other folks and actually honor the gods. Um because you as you said Algo the a lot of the folks that are doing this are kind of doing this in this laring uh framework and that only hurts us in the long run as we often will be associated with those people. those those people uh you know practicing some uh considering it a magic form or it's just uh uh kind of trapesing through tradition um that and it really started I noticed when um I spoke to uh Yoringi uh Yormandingi uh who was the uh leader of their um >> last legitimate aerial goi of the ostatur >> right uh and he spoke about the fact that they were going to put a fifth thought or a um a forarmed or forfooted which is a uh swastika a a very sacred symbol throughout all of the European peoples not just the Nords not just the Germanics and um they ended up getting shut down by the local government because of it. They were going to put a large stone fif on the side of the hill. And that was kind of my first indication of of what they were up against. And again, they didn't seem to have the gumption of fighting. And then over time, I think a lot of the modernist pagan uh kind of swooping underneath or not taking a stand or or just outright admitting that they're they're only doing this as some sort of um uh hobby.
And I think there's a lot of Icelanders, a lot of Scandinavians who who think that uh if you know if you are religious that you are somehow less intelligent.
Um and uh unfortunately a lot of Scandinavians have this sense of being they don't want to come off as being uh ignorant or according to whatever classification of intelligence they have. And that includes just yeah, we're doing this for the hobby. we're doing it for the culture, but I mean in reality, you know, we're we're just normal folks like anybody else who's smart and intelligent and they just kind of like reconfirm their own biases. Um, and it it it it's sad to see. Um, I would encourage any Icelanders out there, you may have one or two of you, but get together. um and hold bloat and join the alert true folk assembly and then make yourself known and uh know now in these times as as uh expression of religion and and expression of speech are so important um that you know you it's it's incumbent upon our folk to to step out there and and start representing um our heritage and our gods. But right now, the the organized version is led and permeated with not that.
>> So, you know how you you know how you tell how not American somebody is? Is when they tell you that their family has to call them the American. My family's never called me the American because we're all American in my family.
>> Um >> it was because of the guns.
There you go. No, >> so I I tease, but it's really cool that we have somebody on the show that does have uh you know, half of his family being from Iceland that does have that touchstone and that point of reference.
Um yeah, so it's a mixed bag. If we have any audience in Iceland, that would be awesome. I hope you guys enjoy the program. It'd be great if you guys joined up. I know there's a lot of you guys. Whatever you guys do, it'd be great if you guys had something over there that was overtly religious and uh I I want that for y'all and I certainly want that for our gods. Um other stuff. In the meantime, Loy donated $20 towards uh Melinda and we appreciate that, Leroy. And Tabitha in Missouri donated $100 towards taking care of Melinda. Thank you for that, Tabitha. And also $50 towards uh the steeple at Balders's Hoff. So, thank you. We appreciate you guys. Um, other questions and things. One I skipped over because I wanted your uh when you took your hiatus there for 30 seconds.
>> Um, the soft G, you find that in Swedish and elf balian.
Uh, right.
Uh so one of the things about that is in modern Icelandic and it's and the soft g in usage in modern Nordic languages is very prevalent. However, we don't fully know about old Norse. People are still guessing about a lot of the structure.
So you'll hear some of the you know again I'm not a linguist but you so I'm I'm kind of defaulting um and you know knowing personally because I have an uncle whose name uh was um so that soft G was already kind of introduced to me at a young age but it may very well have been I um and we don't know if it's or if it's a gear with a softer G or a kind of a sharper G. We don't fully know. And that's the unfortunate thing with a lot of these um elder languages. Um the the morphology of of certain letters together may also be very different than the way we use them today.
>> Depends where it's at too. You also, you know, in your family have a a rackna.
Yeah.
>> And that's the G is K.
>> Yeah. And it's a very hard G.
>> Ragnar. Yeah.
>> Ragnar for anybody that Yeah. It doesn't even sound like Ragnar, but it could have in the Old Norse been Ragnar or Ragnar.
>> Um, >> I don't know.
Well, it's funny because we get tied up in a very small noise difference.
It may have been both. It may have been all three of those things. If you're in Reichuic or uh Oslojord or you know Ladby there, you know it at the same time in the same language. Our pronunciation in here in Tennessee where Swan is in Virginia where you know our folk builder Ron is up in New Hampshire real different. Um and it's it's clearly the same language.
And I think that in a time where people were further uh distance was a much further issue, I think there was probably plenty of dialects or accents that >> I mean it's true. Like even the Filipino islands, every uh landing spot on the islands has a different version of the same language that is Tagalog, you know. and looking at Germany and looking at many places in Europe that was the case based solely on going over a mountain.
>> Um so and this is something we go over a lot but it clearly needs to be continued to go over a lot and that's fine. Um I appreciate that we've got you know we have new people that listen to the show all of the time and it's always good for us to remember that. So, are the Norse and Slavic gods the same beings or actually different gods? Uh, Perun and Thor uh have a lot of similarities.
Um, and this follows on with um the follow or the next question by a different questioner, but still, how does the AFA even rationalize other gods from other peoples? Are they considered the same or are they different and sovereign like hard polytheism and stuff? So hard polytheism absolutely when we compare cockazoid gods versus mongaloid gods and negroid gods then sure they're completely different beings with completely different sovereignty and dominion and agency in their own things.
Um when we compare white people gods they are.
So it is very confusing to take the last breath of them before Christianization and compare them at that stage. to compare them at the medieval period becomes very messy.
It is much less messy when you walk that back through the epochs of time.
Uh we did a whole show to illustrate this a week ago with folk builder Chris Savage. Illustrate a couple of things, but one of the things it illustrates is we are a people. We are not a coalition of peoples.
We are one nation of people being from the same belly button.
Um we come from one group of people that was at one point united. There was us and the isir.
They were with us at the very dawn of our race. That predates the word.
It predates the concept of uh Norse or Slav.
It predates all of that.
But our gods were there because they created us. They shaped us. They formed who we are. And they raised us up to achieve our potential. They've been with us since the beginning.
As language and geography influenced our understandings and as our ancestors moved apart and some settled in one valley and some kept moving and some moved by the coast and some moved up in the north and some were inland in the forest, the names of their gods changed.
The stories of their gods evolved and took the shape of things in their environment and things in their experience. Their relationship with the gods continued and evolved because they weren't taking a stagnant story they were told on the Caspian step with them.
They have a living relationship with their gods.
So, as they're separated by centuries and by, you know, hundreds of miles and thousands of miles in different valleys and and areas, you have a deviating group of names and stories that are very similar, identical in some places, further apart in different places.
that's mixed even further when you get into areas where there's uh intermixture with other kinds of folks like I think does happen in the Mediterranean but you know the Helens and the and the Germanics and the Kelts and the Slavs were eventually just the Aryans and these are our gods.
So yes, they are the same beings.
Some of them you can easily match one for one. Other places they associate different things, different stories with different names for their gods. But yes, these are the same gods. And logic logic makes that clear if you start at the beginning. It makes it trickier if you start at the end and try to work the way back.
Um, I think George Clinton would say that.
Um, where were we at? It's funny. We've gotten a couple things pop up on the screen with comments and I haven't seen that before this broadcast, but it's cool. And I've seen two things pop up like that.
>> It's always been possible. I just don't do it list. They're real real funny. And tonight they've got some humor to them.
>> All right. Well, that that entertains me. Feel free to do that from time to time.
>> There was a question kind of connected to the other two questions before in relation to the uheization that I spoke of. I believe it was uh IsaacTS.
Uh, did the Christian >> priests hemorize all European gods, Roman, Kelts, Norse/Germanic, or just the Germanic deities?
I mean, I always figured you would take that first. I didn't know if you wanted to pass it off to me.
>> No, I hugged I hoged the last I've hugged the last couple. You go for it.
Well, so the uhemorrization first off, the entirety of the Gaelic versus the Golic faith is uhemorrized.
Um the tripartite of the dogda Louu and King Nada um are all seen as uh chieftains, tribal leaders and uh traveling druids, magicians, but you hemorized completely and that's because they did stay in the Irish people's purview even long after Christianity.
much like in Iceland, these two islands uh had the faith persist beyond conversion.
Um but yes, we see it everywhere and uh one of the more egregious ones I see too is not just uh obviously uh St. Bridg and the uh Irish uh Gaelic goddess Bridg uh Bridged um is I you know just recently they um I guess gave saintthood or not just recently but I just recently read it that they gave saintthood to uh Widowkind who was a folk hero much like a Robin Hood character um who who uh stood in opposition to Charles or Carl the Great Charlemagne and after he was then brought into saintthood um even though obviously his conversion is very uh you know it's what we have written is that he converted to Christianity but that's like saying you know it's like all we have left is the anti-witican propaganda but what I ultimately I'm getting at though is that like he might have been more of a legendary culmination of people, but they they made him a saint because they needed to, which I think lends to a a mark on them that there were consistent movements where they were um making saints uh totally for operational purposes. Um, and the reason why they did this versus other places is because most of these Christians were completely converted Gentiles. They were they were folk and uh they were sanctifying these uh both gods and and people or legendary people um because they were trying to change their fellow countrymen. This is a It's more subtle but also more nefarious in this way. Uh there were other places where Christianity has spread where no this is of the pagan religion of before and we don't take this. But when it was the Europeans amongst the Europeans, Christianity took a much more all-encompassing fluid sense and they absorbed um many of the Greek, the Roman and the Germanic uh gods. And um a lot of people don't realize the Slavic religion was deeply ehemorized. But then most of what people read and study now is actually a deconstruction of that uheimerization.
Um but it was I think even far worse than for the Irish. Um so yes it was all over all the folk and that's predominantly because the Christians that were pushing their religion amongst the folk um they were of the folk. They were not of a different people. they had been converted. Saul of Tarsus who um is an ethnic Jew who comes into Greece and he comes back from the fishing trip says he sees Jesus on the water and Jesus says hey go be a fisher of men go convert the Gentiles. From that moment on, there was a new point of instead of trying to convert the Levant and con and convince them that the rabbi Yeshua is the Messiah, no, we're going to go into uh the Greeks and the Romans. And that's why you get the last supper looking like a Bakanelia. That's why you have uh the rabbi Yeshua being born in a manger uh in relation to Bakis is because at that time they were trying to convert the Greeks and then it just every step they took forward um they didn't want to use the the underworld or the the punishment gea in in the Aramaic. So they said Hades and then by the time it got to the Germanic lands they used hell and took her name as uh convenient for their their placement. We see it the morphology of it changing everywhere.
And if you go further further back, you just have to dig under the surface but a a little bit and you realize that Christianity is very seemetic, very foreign, not of European root. And um it it pains me that a lot of people don't see that. And again, it's not I'm not weaponizing this in some way. It it is clearly case.
>> It's the truth. And as a as as those Hebrews would say, the truth shall set you free.
Um, so Ron Borman donated $150 to uh help take care of Melinda. We appreciate that. And with the message attached, Jill, an apprentice boat builder down in Pennsylvania, was in New England and generously treated a number of us to dinner the other night. She accepted a return gift in the form of a donation to the alstru folk assembly. Here is that gift for a gift. What we do on Midgard echoes through eternity. And let those beyond the veil not think we've forgotten them. We haven't. Please accept this in the name uh of goodwill and frith between AFA members in memory of Melinda.
Melinda and thank you Ron.
And thank you Jill for your initial generous gesture on that. Uh Ron and Jill are both folk builders. Ron being up in New Hampshire and Jill in Pennsylvania and they are both doing a fantastic job for us. Much appreciated guys. Uh next up, hey Matt, could you talk about the hierarchy of the AFA a bit like explaining folk builders and other titles in the AFA?
Absolutely.
So, um, all right. Folk builders are kind of the basic titled volunteer position in the AFA. Now, we've got folks that can volunteer and do volunteer for a lot of different things, and we always really appreciate that. Um, folk builders in particular serve as the local representatives of the AFA.
They uh work towards recruitment of members but also towards um maintaining and taking care of the members that we have, connecting them with the bigger AFA, hosting local events, helping support the needs of the GOAR and the membership.
um they take care of a lot of the back-end administrative work as well within the AFA and they're basically the local AFA representative.
Um, uh, a misconception that I think people have is they, >> and I don't think they think about it's not making fun, but I think people assume there's, you know, magical genie that makes AFA stuff happen near them.
The magical genie is these folk builders being starting out as members looking around saying, "Hey, I think I could help build this area. I think I could help make what we do successful." They volunteer, they apprentice under um an oath to folk builder and they um learn how to do that. And any place that we have successful AFA AFA activity started out by a folk builder a member a member stepping up and saying hey I'd like to folk build and starting hosting things and starting the you know sometimes easy sometimes difficult process of gaining momentum and getting something going near them. So that's the folk builders. Um above them are our gothar.
Um Gothy and Githia. Gothy meaning priest.
Githia meaning priestess. They are our clergy. They have to do or at least be able to do all the things that folk builders do. But they um tend to the spiritual needs of our folk and help run the AFA.
They the bulk of they're like an iceberg. What you see on the top is they host ritual and do that sort of thing. They um sometimes lead discussions on spiritual matters. They they do that and that's important and we need that. But the bulk of what they do um most of us don't see.
The bulk of what they do is counseling and tending to the spiritual needs of our membership. And that is a lot of helping people deal with the challenges in their life. Um be it career, be it family, be it uh personal things, be it dealing with trauma. Um but our gothar help our people spiritually and take a very deep commitment to make the AFA a fundamental part of their life and their existence. and uh their ordination transforms them into something that is set apart as in service of the gods in a in a very particular and a very special way.
Um above the folk or above the gothar are our speckinger. Um collectively the speckingar is the council of individual speckingers.
Um so those are the uh those are our they take a more direct role in administering the astro folk assembly.
They serve as my adviserss and um they partner with me in helping run this and making stuff work and they counsel me on all kind of decisions and all kind of things as far as the running of the Astro folk assembly the management of the gothar and folk builders in their charge. Um I'd say at this level you don't have to but that typically is the case more often than not. This is where our Hoff gothar are and those are the particular um people in that are responsible for a Hoff district which Nick if you could throw that map up. We've divided the world into districts according to our Hoffs. I understand that's real ambitious looking internationally, but in the United States it makes sense to break things up that way. So each of these colored districts is overseen by a Hoff Goofy or a Hoffithia that is in charge of of running that area and tending to the Gothar and the full builders in that area. Um and then above the uh Speckingar is me, the Alterior Gothy. Um yeah uh the buck stops with me. I am responsible for um running this in to the best of my ability and accord with u my understanding of the will of the seir.
Um and I am responsible for maintaining the integrity of the faith of Alcatru of uh looking after and helping ensure the success of the gothar and of the folk builders and directing the activity of the Astro folk assembly and and our mission. So that's the hierarchy as we have it at present. There's some other positions that are kind of um not directly in that tree but run alongside it like Hoff steward. That's not always a folk builder. Sometimes that is a just a a volunteer that that may be the only thing that they do and that tends to be the person that takes care of the the maintenance and care for the hoth and the grounds associated with that hoff.
Um, that's what I think we got on off top of my head on that.
And that brings us to opportunity to get back into the text in section three. Loki secured Adun and the slang of fias.
Um also uh just side note with that thim means noisy or or loud. It can also mean glorious. They say that but that that has more connections to um Anglo-Saxon language of a later date.
Um generally when they speak of the the loudness of a place they speak of the wind or the water um the the noise of the place but uh also being a place that is unable to be quiet. It's a a howling craggy place. Um, and also, uh, Theiazi, Theazi's name, especially with the usage of the letter Z. Most people might not see that very often in Old Norse, but the the root word of his name uh, Theia is constraint binding. Um, and it can be implied either through physical constraint or through magical constraint, which I find very interesting. So linking that again back to um the usage of of of the uh fj coning the the foul cunning magic where he is able to enthral people against their will. Um so um we move into okay section three Loki secured Eun and the slaying of Theazi but the Iser became straightened at the disappearance of Eun. they become uh alarmed and speedily they become horry and old. So the source the the very wellspring and this kind of re-emphasizes the feminine and masculine as the gods are the source of the natural world. Nature reflects divinity and there is power and there is life that is given forth from the feminine and that is taken from the gods. And so the word hy h o a r y meaning kind of uh like akin to hairy and craggid and uh bent and old if if you will. Um, so they begin to age. Then those Iser took counsel together and each asks asked the other, "What had last been known of Eden?" And the last that had been seen was that she had gone out of Asgard with Loki. Thereupon Loki was seized and brought to the thing or the thing the council the uh the grand court and was threatened with death or tortures when he had become well frightened. He declared that he would seek after Edun in Yenheim if Freya would but lend him the hawk's plumage which she possessed. There's an interesting point there for those who might uh a hawk and a falcon are often used um they're they're not as keenly separated in the Old Norse. So the translations will often use both of them. Um but her plumage, her her um magical cloak that uh allows her to change shape and uh he asks for this and when he got the hawk's plumage he flew northward into Yachtenheim and came a certain day to the home of Theazi the giant.
Theazi had rode out to sea, but Ethan was at home alone. Loki turned her into the shape of a nut and grasped her in his claws and flew his utmost.
Very, very interesting points here.
There are some speculations of the connections between uh you know Jack and the and the and the beantock and the concept of Jack sneaking into the giants abode while the giants away. you see a lot of these tropes being built in uh all um Indo-Uropean Aryan mythos and this is no different. So while he's away, Loki sneaks in and he uses his magic and he turns her into a like a a walnut or something of of an akin to this and grasps her in his claws. And then he flies. Now when Theazi came home and missed Eun, he took his eagle's plumage, a cape as well, and flew immediately after Loki, making a mighty rush of the sound with his wings in his flight. But when the isir saw how the hawk flew with the nut in its claws, and then behind him the eagle was flying, they went out below Asgard and bore burdens of plain shavings thither. As soon as the hawk flew into the citadel, he swooped down close by the castle wall. Then the icier struck a fire of the plane shavings of the the shavings from the the cutings of a wood plane. But the eagle could not stop himself and he missed the hawk and the feathers of the eagle caught fire straight away. His flight ceased. Then the iceir were near at hand and they slew the giant within the gates of the iceir. And that slaying is exceedingly famous. So again, I think a lot of people when they read, they don't think about what these stories are in relation to the time.
These are the entertainment of our folk. So the usage of language to encourage imagination, our folk sitting in the hall listening, seeing this, it it is the movie in their head and um this large foreboating eagleclad wizard is chasing Loki who has the the walnut uh in his claws and they light the the outer walls on fire so that he is singed at just the right time and falls to the ground and then they rush upon him and slay him.
Uh now Scavi the daughter of this yacht the Azi took upon her helm and her barren her chain mail shirt and all of her weapons of war and proceeded then to Assar to avenge her father. The Isir however offered her reconciliation and and atonement. The first article was that she should choose for herself a husband amongst the Isir and choose by their feet alone. Seeing no more of him, then she saw the feet of one man passing and fair. I choose this one, for surely it is baler, and little can be loathly, little can be disgusting of his feet.
But that was not baler. It was Narder of Noaton, the god of the sea, the god of the rivers. And she had this article also in her bond of reconciliation that the Iserm might must do a thing she thought they would not be able to accomplish.
She said that they had to make her laugh.
And Loki did this. He tied a cord to the beard of a goat. the other end being about his own genitals, and each gave way in turn to a tug of war, each screeching loudly. Then Loki let himself fall into Scavi's knees, and she laughed, and thereupon the reconciliation was made with her on the part of the Isir. Bear in mind, too, this is condensed. This is written separately. So another thing that was not mentioned was the fact that there is the astrological stars most likely caster and poll who our ancestors probably called the eyes they are thrown into heaven. This is all part of the story. And the also the other part that's kind of not focused on here is um it's it's the story is built on okay I want to wed one of the and the gods gather to council and they say yes you can do it but you have to do it by only looking at their feet and then finally there's the okay fine I but you have to make me laugh. And then of course there's the absurd tugofwar between the the goat uh beard and the the cordage uh to to to Loki. And I think this really does reflect perhaps um the court fool, the jester uh that there were uh comedic acts that were part of courtly life. And this was certainly a a reflection of that. Um and again the the fun fact of this is um that the cordage um that that Scotty keeps the cordage and in a way there's this symbolic nature of the self-castration of Loki. uh this kind of binding of his masculinity in order to make himself a fool in order to prostrate himself before the interloper. Um is there I there's some deep symbolic meaning in that. Um, and I I it's it's important, I think, for people to understand that when we read these stories, this is not like reading um a historical text that claims to be complete and and absolute truth. No, these are layered effects of understanding. Um but ultimately what should be understood is the that Scott who is a yacht of the middle realm goes to the heavenly realm to avenge her father and is through trials brought into alignment with the gods. And that is not the only time that Scotty and Loki have a comparison in relation to the binding and or ultimately the the the no laughing matter binding and poisoning of the snake over Loki's face.
But there is this deep connection and both of them are of the middle world.
Both of them are of the material and of the the central and are interconnected with the gods of heavenly order. And I don't think that that's accidental either.
Do you want me to uh keep going?
Section four is pretty small.
>> Yes, please.
And it does kind of extend too with uh more about the so uh four about the line. It is so said that Oen did this by way of atonement to Scotti. He took the Oh, there we go. See again uh remembering things. Um uh a lot of folks might not know this, but like we're I'm not reading from a script or we're not going over things ahead of time. A lot of this is coming straight from our our heads and our knowledge of of of the years we've been doing this, but things get orders get mixed up. So, the Aussies >> also an interesting side note. So, it's cool because there's portions of the lore that we are in all of the time reading and there's portions that we read less.
And when you go over the same material a certain number of times, a lot of things run together because you become very familiar with the holistic arc of it as opposed to like where each of piece of it is.
>> So, it's really beneficial and good for Swan and I to get to go through not only reading this, but reading it and going through it aloud, seeing where people have questions or what is of interest to folks. It helps us to um mind the lore for entirely different information than maybe we pulled out of it, you know, the first time or the second time or the 35th time we've read it. It's special to read it in this kind of different light with each other and with you guys because we do notice different things that we didn't pick up on or didn't stand out in the same way. uh the last time we went over it.
>> Yeah, 100%. And and and this is uh like for folks who might be like, why should I be uh you know, interested in some of this? Like here is a perfect example of the celestial star mapping of our our Nordic ancestors who were uh astoundingly good seafair uh seafarers.
and uh we know that it existed but so little of it survived because it wasn't focused on in courtly matters. Um so you know we have these speculations that these eyes may very well have been um the the same as Caster and Pollock amongst um the Mediterranean. And we have Arandel's toe, which is another great story about uh Lord Thor uh carrying someone and his his toe being thrown into the sky. And um we uh uh you know speculate that that could be the the dog star and um there are so much there's a really great source for folks if they are interested in reading Nigel Pennock. Nigel Pennock has done some um correlations between Germanic lore and uh uh astrology andor just astronomy in general. Um which I find just absolutely fascinating. Unfortunately, you know, we are just putting those pieces together.
So, excuse me. Um yeah. So uh Theiazi's line, it is so said that Oin did this in an array of atonement to Scavi feeling uh bad or feeling not wanting her to seek any more aggression towards the gods.
uh there is a sense of honoring and the point of this is that the atonement is honoring eternally is very very important amongst our ancestors. So it would be understood in the story why this would be important. He takes the Azy Then said Ay, it seems to me that The Azi was a mighty man.
Now of what family was he?
And Braggi answered, "His father was Alvaldi.
And if I tell thee of him, thou wilt think these things wonders." He was very rich in gold. And when he died and his sons came to divide the inheritance, they determined upon this measure for the gold which they divided. Each should take as much as his mouth could hold.
And all the same number of mouthfuls.
One of them was Theazi, the second Edi, and the third Gang.
And we have it as a metaphor amongst us now to call gold the mouth tail of these giants. But we conceal it in secret terms or in posy in this way that we call it speech or word or talk of the giants. Then then said I deem that well concealed in secret terms. So this part here is speaking of the the wealth of speech, the wealth of knowledge or the gold of the mouth as a kind of kenning in relation to this. I also think it it's it always is very interesting the way the the dividing up of gold. Um obviously placing the gold on an otter skin, placing it in your mouth. There's always fantastical ways that this is done. Um and again it's because the this this entertainment but oftentimes there can be deeply metaphysical and cosmic truths that are being spoken and then other times it is um fantastical stories built and enriched by the culture that they come from and in this case particularly the Nordic culture.
Um so uh the the gold of their mouths speech and word and talk and this again doubles down on the emphasis of the importance of speech and the importance of spoken word amongst our ancestors.
And then it uh this part does switch to another story afterwards.
>> So um let's all right let's keep going in that case.
>> Okay.
Yeah. This is uh uh kind of lends to itself because that now we're we're talking about a new gift of speech, a new point, but this uh gift comes from the mouths of the gods. And um we speak of the origin of the me of Sutunger. Now this is the story of Quasir, the first creation of the gods that walks amongst men and ultimately ends up being inspiration and the divine nature of speech and poetry.
So then said Ayer, whence did this art which ye call posy derive its beginnings?
Braggi answered, "These were the beginnings thereof. The gods had a great dispute.
With the folk which they called the Vanir, and they appointed a peace meeting between them, and they established peace in this way. They each went to a vat, and with a they spat spittle therein.
Then at the parting the gods took that peace token and would not let it perish but shaped thereof in the form of a man.
And this man is called Kasier.
And he was so wise that none could question him in concerning anything but that he knew the solution. He went up and down the earth to give instruction to men. And when he came upon the invitation of the abode of a certain dwarves, Fowler and Galar, they called him into privy converse with them, and they murdered him, letting his blood run into the vats and a kettle.
The kettle, his name is Orreor, the stirer of inspiration, and the vats Son and Bordon.
They blended honey with his blood and the outcome was that of the me by virtue of which he who drinks it becomes a scald or a scholar.
The dwarves reported to ice to the icier that Kasier had choked on his own shrewdness since there was none so wise there as to be able to question his wisdom.
So the the story of Kasia couple of things worth mentioning is uh I don't know there might be some Slavic folks out there and uh that are listening um and there is a the the drink called katch uh which is a malt drink um and this has origins um back to the fermentation through mastication of certain things where the um the active yeast in the mouth started the fermentation process. So this goes very far back and um just by lending to the understanding of this this is and so his name the first storyteller being the this kind of brew started from the mouths of the gods themselves is really more of the important part of this. And as they the mouth is so important, the speech so important that when they give forth together, they create this the drink that is formed into Fasier. And he then descends from the heavenly realms and walks among the folk and he clears their disputes.
And I am always of the of the belief that he is the first storyteller that the first uh words that come from the gods to the folk after the unification of the gods of natural order and the gods of or natural law and cosmic order is from the mouth of Kasir. And that wisdom reflects in that. And eventually since he is now in the middle world, he is down from the heavenly mountains, he is uh seduced by Svart Alvar or Sworthy elves. And we spoke about elves. Alvar is is a a broad title just like the word in English like monster. They're not correlated, but what I mean is is that to say monster does not specify anything. And the word Alvar is very much the same way, but that the first word is always the most important. So Alvar is it's it's a being that is synthesized with sworthiness or grit or the earth, the dirt. And they are beings of the earth and of energy and of the of the the land. And they are very connected in that sense. They're very um connected to the physical realm and they are always seen as being very very capriccious. They do bring forth great creations but they are never of a character that is elevated. So they are worldly in their way. They are not like folk who are able to know and uh attain and try to seek the horizon and the upward and they're not of the gods who are of the the spiritual nature of the universe. They're very very material and um I am also of the belief that they do show up still today in many people's houses. We just call them poltergeists or uh you know noisy or active ghosts but anything that moves physical objects it's generally them and they are malicious. Uh they've always been seen as malicious. Um and so in this case, you know, the he gets called to them and in his na naivity he goes there and they of course say, "Oh yeah, he came to our feast and he choked on his his own grandous wisdom." So that's clearly, you know, a biting insult. Again, another sign of just that maliciousness that comes from these beings that are so innately physical, they cannot escape uh into higher realms of thinking and being. So that it's just it fits the bill completely. So, um they send word and um the dwarves have the the vats um of of of poetry and inspiration. His blood is um mixed with honey. And again because you see the kvach or the there is the the evolution of a I would say like a stone age alcohol into a bronze age and iron age alcohol.
Um so there's kind of an evolution that that is there. Um, but they now have this and it comes from the mouths of the gods. So, it's not just meat. It's not just this molted liquor.
It it it's it's beyond that's far more magical. And uh and they they hoard this treasure, but they begin to make mistakes and and let the word out. So these dwarves then invited the yotans a yotin who is called Gillinger to the to visit them and his wife with him.
So or the gold the golden uh the golden one um the or the shining kind of goldish one. Next the dwarves invited Gillinger to row out upon the sea with them. But when they had gone out from the land, the dwarves rode into the breakers and purposely capsized the boat. Gillinger was unable to swim and he perished. But the dwarves then rided the boat and rode to land. They reported the accident to his wife, but she took it grievously and wept aloud. Then Fialar, one of the uh Smartals, asked her whether it would ease her heart if she could look upon the sea at the spot upon where he perished. And she did desire to do this. And then he spoke softly to Gallar, his brother, beating him to go over the doorway, and that when she would go out, take a millstone and fall it upon her head. So now we have these these murderous, conniving uh figures that the the smart elf are always seen in this light as a kind of malicious and um obviously with the uamorization.
there's a deep connection and kind of a darker side to looking at this story is that a lot of these um formats uh you know this is seen as nefarious.
This is seen as bad. You go and you fight someone uh and they're defending their village. You go to fight. They fight and die. This is honorable. but ambushing people, purposely capsizing, doing all this is nefarious and this is unseammly or uh you know unseemly in Germanic would be kind of the same as as like seeing as like sinful or just evil.
And um as she goes out to see him, they drop the stone upon her head, saying that her weeping grew so weome to them. And even so he did.
Now when the giant Sutunger, who is Gillinger's son learned of this, he went over and took the dwarves and carried them out to sea and set them on a reef which was covered at high tide. They bes they besought Sutunger to grant them respit for their lives and as a price of the reconciliation offered him the precious me in satisfaction for his father's death and that became a means of reconciliation between them. So carried the mead home and he placed it in a secret place called Nitpak placing his daughter Gunlo her uh name it means battle song there to watch over the me because of this we call posie or poetry clasier's blood or the dwarves drink or fill the filling or any kind of liquid of or balden or son or the fairy boat of the dwarves since this me brought them life ransom from the wreath of sutting me or the liquor of nitpark.
So that last part in particular is in essence telling the poet who's reading the stories. If you ever use Kennings for poetry, you can say, you know, that uh he was uh d his beard was drenched in the dwarves drink as he spit his fill of the the the dwarf's um fairy. All of that is just re-emphasizing that he is speaking poetry of high renown. It's the blood of Klasir. Um and that's ultimately to another layer of what this what's being said in the story in this poem. In the final part, then Ayer asked or then Ayer said, "These seem to me dark sayings to call posie by these names, but how did yeir come to attaining back Sutunger's me?"
And now we go into the dynamic lord and his ability to attain. And there are so many deep um Indo-Uropean Aryan points of the attainment of the sacred me and um this this story just goes back so far. Uh, and the idea of the gods and of mortals in the stories of our ancient ancestors tricking and attaining knowledge has been with us, you know, even to the today to today with the uh the the blues or the Irish uh songs about tricking the the devil.
These are some of the oldest um paradigms that go back farther than Christianity. It it's it's deeply um part of the folk. So it begins the the processes of gaining the me of poetry or posie or poetry in and of itself the word rhyming uh magic from battle song. So the the names have meaning it's it's this is all just where does poetry come from? And if you are a poet and you are reading these then and you are inspired by the blood of Classier, these are all the names you can use to reinforce your uh word magic upon the world through poetry.
So we have a um we have an outpouring of questions >> uh now to go and uh work our way through.
>> I think the proper word is buttload perhaps.
Um, so I'll try to find where we were at with before we had this uh hyper hyperabundance.
I've already talked about that one. Um, appreciate that you get getting handy with the little highlight the question deal. I like that you can do that, Nick.
If you can do that when I read the questions, that would be awesome.
We used to do it all the time and then I quit and you know I yes I can't only get back on that horse.
>> The only problem is if it's a question from outside YouTube like the email or whatever then I won't be able to.
But for the YouTube ones I can.
>> We'll make it work. I'm trying to figure out the picture of this anime woman and what she's up to in the picture.
Anyways, question for the folk. What exactly are the elves? Uh, I've heard the Celtic gods be described as they were elves.
So, what uh is an elf then? I know they exist in Celtic mythology and Norse mythology. Spawn touched on this a bit in explaining something in the last piece. What I will say is their etmology goes back to the word white or goes back to the word albos in protoindo-uropean meaning white.
So it's funny when you have uh Leo Alvar and Doc Alfar and uh Sard Alvar when it's describing like brightness or intensity of that white color which touches on something that Chris talked about last week in the Aryan understanding of color.
it was in term of its vibrancy because they they lacked some of the color words that we use. So, uh, Swan, take it away. Tell the tell the people about the Alvar and what all that means.
>> Well, and the the connection of of color, the synthesis of color to ideal. Now for most people they and I use this as an example just because I think most people will be very familiar. So in uh Lord of the Rings there is Gand Alf. Gandalf is a name utilized from the diver the naming of the dwarves. It is actually not one of the names of Lord Oin. um that somewhere that got kind of uh put out there and it became kind of a a a league though I certainly think the kenning could apply.
Um but what it really means is the title of Alvar being like being or um spirit or soul or entity and that whatever is in front of it. So a gand elf is a being synthesized with the wand or with magic. Uh Vikings uh vinger bay men or men of the bay were sailors but they were also uh referred to as skip alvar or beings of the ship. So once you look at it in the the mundane sense, you begin to see that the these connections go that there is the the beings of light and there is the beings of the swary or the sooti and then there are the beings of darkness doc alvar. And what we then begin to understand is that these beings are not all the same. that uh I think over time our our brains and and perhaps fantasy fiction and things like that have kind of correlated everything to be the same. But no, they're not. The Leo Salvadar are beings of light. And so what I've always kind of taken them to is is looking at that first word and breaking that down. Sudi and in connection to forges, anvils, uh that that which is taken out of the earth and that obviously correlates very well with the understanding of how they're spoken about in lore about being connected to uh knowing how to forge and create things. And we go a little bit further and it's just oh well that is really matter and energy and the uh refinement of these things that utilizing heat to refine the earth. And so the Svart alv are beings of of the earth of material and doc alvar darkness um walking the the path of death the walking hell's road as we we say going through the processes but then being placed in vanguard over blades burial mounts battle sites as vigilant protectors of ancient sites sacred to our folk but they have walked the path of death. I would say that Doc Alvar and Dir are more akin than say Leo Salvar and Dalvar. Leosavar are clearly seen in relation to the gods being not mortals but beings of light that are in.
And that is again another our ancestors seeing the gods living a top a mountain range in the center of the world and are surrounded by the clouds and the light.
But we go further into like I would say the evolution of our modern understanding is that the heavenly realm is above and and beyond. It's not just a mountain range. Obviously, it's it's that's uh poetic, but the the Alvar, the Leo Alvar, who are often just called Alvar in many of the stories, which adds to more of the confusion, um are beings that are versed in relation with the gods. They are components of light um and often doing things in the world. um uh the the processes of life um perhaps photosynthesis etc. And and that would then correlate as to why Lord Frey, the fruitful Lord, is the Lord of the light elves and that his return and coming into the world hearkens life and and and fruitfulness. And we can kind of see these patterns um as we look at them. But Alvar is a broad titled term and I I bring up the word monsters because it's the first thing that I think of in relation to like you if if a foreigner from Japan came here and asked what is a monster? It's like well it could be a lot of things.
And that was the same usage of the word Alvar. What is an Alvar? Well, they're they can be a lot of things. It's it's just a broad kind of term for a a a not quite a god and and not quite a human.
It's uh it's an a a thing of great power but it's in between or it was once a human but now is beyond that.
>> Yeah. Um it's poetically uh alf often means spirit genu like generally um you know Santa Claus is you know u elf they've got stuff things are described with elf often when they are just spirits of a thing.
The intensity of the brightness though I think is very interesting and I think there are radiant spiritual beings that get conflated in medieval Christianity with angels in the sense that they're these beings of light that um are instances of the ancestors. But I guess in a potent way, the Alvar exists beyond the veil and all manner of ghosts and land spirits and ancestors interacting with us in a um in a physical way. misuse uh misuses language but in a um in your presence kind of way. There's like talking to the ancestors on the phone being, you know, praying at your altar and then there's interacting with them in your presence in the sense of a a ghostly manifestation.
But these spirits display as a number of different things. Certainly of of the land spirits uh uh the land viter um specifically often times they're heavily associated with place but they don't have to be. I think some of the brightness or lack thereof is indicative of their hierarchy in the scale of agency that they have the ability to do.
I think one of the things that's fascinating um and I really hope is when we find ourselves beyond the veil that we will all of a sudden know the answer to some of these mysteries and how some of this shakes down. Um but yeah, the the Alvar consists of a a host of entities existing beyond the veil that can interact with the physical world.
And the intensity of that light, I think, affects the ability of perception amongst people who have second sight and the ability to perceive those things better.
Um but yeah, I mean we see a elevated role or an elevated position for the the Leos Alvar the light elves.
Um I don't think we see the same in the sense the other um Alvar, but I also don't think we see like >> just because something is lower does not make it closer to evil. And I think that's one of the things that the Christian duality has an up and down scale and the higher up stuff is good and the lower down stuff is evil.
There is a different directional polarity in Alatru.
There is certainly a and I don't think it's directional, but there's a polarity between order and chaos that is much more akin to good and evil. But I think the the upward and the downward there's cathonic elements that are more primal that are often more rooted in deep history or in primal urges in ficundity in the more physical plane of things. And then there are higher, more astral, more um closer to the heavens kind of expression.
That's not a good or a bad. It's a aligning towards the the the primal or towards the the astral. And I don't think that either of those things are are bad things. But again, it's a complicated question. I don't think we gave you a clear enough answer because I don't think the answer is is crystal clear to us. The idea of the the Alvar themselves, be them bright, be them dull, or be them dark, all talk about our ability to perceive something that is not very clear to us on this side of the veil.
Um, Speckinger Spawn, what weight do you put into the phrase, "The eyes are the portal to the soul."
>> Oo, >> please answer in pounds and ounces.
>> Wait, is that part of the question? Is that at the end there?
>> No, that I added that last.
>> Don't blame Jordan for that one.
Well, I I know I know that that term I believe comes from one of the uh Shakespearean plays, but this kind of uh is an interesting point. There there's some synthesization of Christianity and um the helenics here that we see. We were talking about where these things are kind of um coming from.
there's the um uh I forgot his name and he said that the face or the visage is the picture of the soul and um I know this because there's a a gentleman that I I look into he talks about how the personality is in the structure of the face. Um really interesting stuff. I don't know if I fully believe it but I just find it interesting. Um, and there's also a biblical quote somewhere about the eyes being kind of uh if they're full of light or light then your soul is full of light and if they're darkened then your soul is darkened.
But >> the usage of this is built around the eye, the loss of the eye, the gaining uh obviously Lord Oin removing his eye. Um, and I've heard a lot of people talk about the the right eye, the left eye, and what those might mean, solar, lunar, masculine, feminine. Um, and I think all of that is really fascinating, and I'm not actually shooting any of it down, but what it does show is a deep and uh powerful truth towards our ancestors and the usage or understanding of the eyes.
And um, even down to the evil eye, which is across the world, but heavily concentrated in the Middle East and in Europe as a concept of, you know, if someone was to give you the evil eye, I mean, it has potency just as much as word and poetry. Um, I I think it's a generationally developed concept that comes from magic that is built on uh building blocks. There is magic built on the building blocks of sound and speech. There is magic on on the uh building blocks of deed and action. And there is magic built on the building blocks of sight and attainment and or cursing of the things that your visage.
Sometimes it was seen as bad if uh if someone was uh being uh wrongfully killed and their and their eyes uh were cast upon you, it would it would somehow curse you. Um this is all just again in correlation to more of a part of the soul that we call mayan or or might me sometimes it's referred to uh might. It is might. So the projection of might into the world, the speech might through poetry and word, the deed might through uh physical prowess and the ability to affect the world around you and implement your will. And then there is the much more subtle and uh kind of >> fearinducing because it's so subtle is the projection of might through the eyes. And we see this in the statues with Lord Thor. Lord Thor is often seen with the large eyes of rage and the the the roaring mouth.
And so I think ultimately all of that boils down to a projection of of Mayan uh into the world and that our ancestors did see many different modes with different forms of power um that they could ultimately affect the world around them. And these are focal points of will that every day when we wake up we have the ability to do deed to speak word and to ultimately look out and see the horizon see our future destination. It's something that uh most scientists believe is completely unique to humans is that we can project ourselves uh in a third person format into a world that we've never or a situation that we've never been in and that most animals obviously because we don't understand the communications. It is generally seen by their actions that they work through instinct of the blood and uh repetition the things that they are taught by their their forebears. So I find that these three modes of implication are a manifestation of might and will which is deeply connected in the Germanic soul and is why in our language we have past and present but everything in the future is will. You know we ran uh run and then we will run.
there's always the the key component and there is no uh mistake that the the the third facet and brother of Lord Oin who is the lord of dynamic um the dynamic tripartite within the tripartite is villi will willpower the manifestation of will and all of weird or all of or in its greatest sense is a calm culmination of all of that will moving forward like a wave. And we can implement our will into the world, but there are things that we are going to have to weather. And that is a buildup of all of the will of individual people and also to the gods.
If the gods are making ripples in the well and they are influencing things beyond our scope of understanding. If Lord Thor is implementing his will into the well of earth and that manifests as a storm obviously we have to weather that. And the gods don't promise us this falsehood that we are going to somehow avoid hardship. Instead, it is this conflict of will, of all things, all these forces that makes our faith so potent and glorious.
I hope that that was a good answer. I mean, I I hope that was a good answer for covering all of that. I guess started tangenting really.
It's all good. Is the sonata dharma concept of sarara or swara close to the concept of heaven in alertru?
To my understanding, yes. Aside from the um aside from the reincarnation bit like the trans like the it being a holding area until a reincarnation period. Aside from that, I think that it's um very similar in my understanding, but I don't claim to be an expert. And when you deal with Hindu and Buddhist terms, different schools of those things interpret them really differently. I'm not sure what unique take uh Sonata Dharma might have on that. Swan, do you have stuff to add?
>> Yeah. uh the pathway of light. Um and I'm kind of go gonna go off in a weird excuse me actually no not that's correct a very weird full direction. Um so one of the things I found interesting is that the pathway of light or is is is a heaven amongst heavens. We see this also in our faith with the speaking of say like Gimlay. Um there are the and then there is the the wind outer heaven.
Thi this concept of the upper realm being compartmentalized in usage and position and time I think is very uh Aryan throughout um and and that the Aria of of India are no different. Um, I also think that when we look at our faith, we don't often see these patterns. But I encourage people too. I don't think that it is a mistake that the Lord that stands at the threshold between heaven and the earth who can see and mark time in an earthly fashion is also the source of the prismatic beam the the shimmering bridge that uh allows access into heaven. Um, knowing now as what we do know about prisms and about light and the connectivity between light and the holy gods doesn't just stay singularly. All of the Isir have deep connections to light. Even Lord Oin who's generally seen as as dark and foreboing and and and again filled with with doom. And that would happen considering that a lot of the functionality that we culturally view him as is as as a psychop or a a traverser between the realms of of that which we don't know. Um but glad time and the shining nature of of of Dropne and gold and and then there's uh holy Frra and his connection to light and Lord Balder and all of the gods Eun and the apples the golden apples the golden hair of Freya life is a heavy focus on the holy gods And I again just don't find it to be simply coincidence that the threshold between heaven and the earth uh shines forth a prismatic beam of this heavenly light being formulated into the world. Um now a lot of people could say oh well that's not in the lore that's not written down uh explicitly. But again mythos is painting a picture with words. And if your soul is stirred to see these patterns, you begin to see another level of these stories that speak deeply to you. And um you can see this cross comparison uh in all of the Indo-Uropean branches or the Aryan branches of faith.
And some of them are like Alice Sergotti said, some of them lay over each other very very well. Others do not. And that could be foreign influence. That could also be just deeply intrinsic influence that's connected to the value of the culture, whether it's Slavic or Gaelic or Galish or Germanic or or what have you. And and it's not a matter of trying to denounce one or the other. I'm clearly just more familiar with the Germanic and Nordic. Um, but you can see these comparisons and I don't think that there is far off when it comes to the early scriptures of the like the rig vda or the vadas in general. um as they do come from the Ariah and we do see there there are cross uh parallels that we can clearly tie to. Uh one of the ones that comes to mind immediately too is the reference of Lord uh or agony of the of the um early vadas. He's part of the tripartite of theirs and he is the lord of sacrifices.
And again in our faith some of the gods are called like lord of the temple, lord of the sacrifices. Um and again these are not saying that the gods are somehow worshiping some other god or who are the gods worshiping. The gods and us are correlated together. We see their Their faith is our faith. Our faith is their faith. They don't say worship me. They say a strong soul gives gift.
And so we are in essence copying through um as they lead by example in a way. And again, it's just you can see in these um ancient writings that this is the way that our ancestors saw functionary. They didn't see the gods as um separate and sitting up there. It was that they too were like us and we are like them and we should strive to be like them and that we are a reflection of their divinity. So that correlates to they, you know, build they have anvils, they they fashion tools because that's what men folk should do is fashion tools, create governance, build buildings, create order and society. And even though now obviously we don't see the gods as like living literally in a house, it is the purpose of the house.
It's the purpose of construction. It's the purpose of order that is the true point of of these stories.
>> All right. So, Ron says, "Getting the hoffs on Google Maps was important.
What do you each think of trying to legally name the ridge at Siger something like Tears Ridge?
Um, really curious about that process. I've looked around and there's bajillions of these little ridges and none of them have names. I don't know how you would petition to have something like that named. What is interesting is that particular ridge that forms like a sea around like a backwards sea around property is entirely we own the entirety of the ridge line. So I don't think it would be inappropriate for us to want to officially name that and I don't think we would have other people contesting with us but I'm not sure. Um, I think there's a lot of cool things we could do that or we could do as far as that naming goes.
I think, you know, the thing that pops to my mind is the most I don't know fortuitous is perhaps uh tears rampart um for that ridge, but I'm not sure.
But yeah, I think it'd be really cool.
I'm just not sure what that process is.
Swan, what are your thoughts?
>> Uh, I'm I just started kind of looking in. Uh, one of the things I noticed is that ridges and and hillix and things are kind of more locally um utilized and then become. But there is actually a naming authority for summits and uh hills, landforms, and high points throughout the United States. It's called the geographic name information system. and it's maintained by the US Geological Survey for the US Board of Geographic names. So there is a body in the in our government that does uh keep this data. So the the source of trying to figure out how something becomes of that and again I think it actually lends to our favor if it is unnamed. Um, this is really interesting. I am absolutely down for this. But I think that that's a brilliant idea. Oh, yeah.
There's the proposal and then there's a review and then an approval and then there's public access as it's listed on maps.
Um, this is uh, you know, really really interesting. Uh I did a a wedding in Washington uh state for two lovely members of our church and they had a wedding at a place um the interesting was the usage of the word uh bte and it's a French word uh kind of very similar to the Germanic word bjork or or or berg uh for a a a mountain or a hillic And I was just like, "Oh, wow.
That's kind of cool that that etmology there." Um, and you know, maybe who named it. Was it a, you know, somebody of French Canadian origin or was it just uh, you know, I I don't I don't know.
Was it a decision made to kind of uh, seem different from other places? But >> it's actually a term that you see a good bit in the American West, >> right?
>> Yeah. Was it was it something maybe started by like uh the Louiswis and Clark expedition? I you know cuz you have meas in the southwest and that's obviously its connection to Latin and uh the Hispania you know hybridization.
So, the fact that it's not named though, that would be very cool to uh get that into review or proposal and review and and then have that on Google Maps is like that. That's what this this hill formation is called.
That's a great idea.
I'm a little upset I never thought of it.
>> I think that's really cool idea as well.
Um, question for you gentlemen. What are your thoughts on the vetas? Swan, what are your thoughts?
>> Oh, we kind of talked a little bit about that. I think that the uh initial vadas um and I don't have a ton of knowledge.
I can't speak with uh authority on this and and agency of um sincerity, which I can speak about my own faith. So, that's just the honest truth. Um, but I do see the comparisons and I I believe a long long time ago, Aliggoi and I were talking about comparisons like blueprints and looking at things and kind of overlaying helenic ideas over the blueprint of of the Germanic or or or what have you. And all of this culminating to the origin of our of our people and our gods. And I don't think that we're meant to go back and try to replicate or create um you know uh uh this is what it probably is. I think that the the the point is to go forward and and unify under uh the the larger concept of that which has survived. But going back you see a lot of that and one of the big ones for me was the tripartite. Um it was instrumental in my studying of how there is always a skyfather and an earth mother and then when they are transformed moved they change in their positioning. There is always the tripartite of heaven that is established and the vadas were the first part on that journey of my studying that in in relation to um Indra Agny and Veruna um where that suddenly the the tripartite of lightning fire and water and then looking at other Aryan branches and seeing that the The helenics had numbered their tripartite with Zeus having the lightning bolt and uh Hades having a bidant and Poseidon having a trident. They literally numbered it and you just begin to see these patterns throughout all of the Aryan branches and it started with the vadas. Um, however, again, because of my lack of like just deep knowledge, I would like to go in and and uh look into a lot of it. But there is I think a great change that happened over time as the Aria of India are very much um they fall into the same furrows that befell other Aryan groups if they encountered very large nonfolk um peoples. the the uh Iranians, the Persians, and they're being uh you know, influenced greatly or running into in the south the the the Shemmites or the um the people of the of the Middle East.
Um or in India with with the Ariah kind of running into the Dravidians. And then even with the helenics at a certain point though it was a softer impact they did encounter Canaanite Phoenician you know Levventine sea peoples um and the the North Africans but as you kind of drift more northward there's less you kind of find this kind of concentrated sense with the Galish or or Gaelic people uh the Slavs and the Germanic folk and you see that there's uh less of a a stranger or outsider influence. It's it's less outlandish in a way. Um and so and and I don't mean to that in in demeaning it but what I am saying is is that we have to be very very careful when we research that we are going in there specifically like investigators looking for the true source uh the the comparative points and that's where um there's a lot of help that the the uh Indian or the the vadas can help us understand but there's also things I think that our sources can help folks who are specifically looking in that perspective in relation to um ancient Hindu texts and uh I mean I find that all very very fascinating. I I think that uh it's it's clear to see but at some point when our folk ended up kind of overtaking a a different people's it wasn't but for so long where things began to kind of merge and and shift and the Ariah telling the Dravidians that they can't eat the cattle and and now the cattle are just sacred and nobody eats them. uh we can see these evolutions. So we have to be careful and we have to kind of have a judicious mind looking at these things.
>> Yeah. I don't know what to do with the betas. Um I have tried really hard. I'm just keeping it real. I've tried.
>> Yeah, I know you're being real real.
>> They seem completely nonsensical to me.
There's no point of familiarity. there's no point of commonality that like it is very hard because I lack the context or whatever and it all feels very very foreign and very very strange and very something I don't know how to connect with easily. Um, that's not a slam against them. That's as much on me, but it you don't start out getting a lot of the context in in my understanding. So, I think it's challenging in that sense.
Um, so I have not made great progress in reading um the riga uh the times that I've tried because it's just I can't follow it.
Um, but that's on me and I again that's not on on the vas that's on me. Um, son, can you comment some on the broad Germanic folklore related to spirits and why we call fermented beverages spirits in relation to uh, kabasser and fermentation as in wine and spirits shop?
>> Yeah. the infusement the changing uh the processes was not fully understood um I believe and I can't remember which book but uh Dr. Steven Flowers suggested that there might be say uh like there's a north, south, east and west of the elements in the western tradition and then there is the northeast the uh you know the southeast and and this would be venom, yeast and other elements that uh lend to uh life creation and things that we our ancestors and and in particular just the truth of uh things that move and grow.
Um, and so what you end up getting is yeah, the the soul of the the wheat, the soul of the barley, the uh the songs of John Barley Corn and how he's threshed and killed and and um of that soul creates, you know, the spirit. And I think it it traversed into the utilization of like copper to create whiskey and things. It's it was more or less a verbiage that was carried on. But I do believe it does go back to the origins and understandings of the transmutation between uh in an essence it's ancient alchemy before medieval alchemy. It's it is the transformation of um and that is magical in in its own right. uh you kind of see that in what I would call the three um forms of uh magical component and we again uh whether it's the apples of our gods the soma of uh the vadas uh the ambrosia um different things but we we find these modes of of uh religious and spiritual connotations always associ assiated with what I would call the three big pillars of um ancient the ancient world being alcohol um mycelium and and mushrooms and um uh cannabis but a lot of people will go and run with that and say oh what are you trying to say that like uh religion is only created by these things no I what I'm saying is is that the facilitation of thinking outside of the borders of our own mind was clearly noted when these items were involved. And so they clearly have a religious connotation, sometimes cultural, the scheians and their usage of um indica style cannabis. um obviously alcohol in relation to the Germanic folk and um the the shifting when the the Indians or when the Aria when they go into India there's a clear shift between the upper land um aminatada muscara the the the red capped mushroom with the white dots to a psilocybic cattle-based one and it was because the heat that produced those mushrooms um may not have been encountered before until they entered that biome.
But it's again the reflection of the natural world is an echo of divinity. And just like there can be things that can open up and expand our understanding sometimes, it's not to be abused because all things can have detriment. Um the gods are capable of taking on this knowledge. Lord Oin sacrifices himself and this sets him above the gods of that have not sacrificed themselves because he has the strength or he had the strength to do it. Um and again uh Lord Oen speaks about how you know when you do go and traverse and look into shadows and want to seek knowledge sometimes what you find is far more than you can handle. And that reflects just in nature as well with our understanding of you know you go and you experiment with things and and a plant which has no moral compunction with ending you ends you because of your lack of knowledge and understanding. So the exploration of the boundaries beyond our mind is just as dangerous as say like living in the natural world and trying to go further out. And it gets even more complicated when we start constructing and making things the the chemicalbased laboratory based things. Now we're doing things that we're creating our own hemlock out in the world if you will. Um you know fentinol would probably be a good example of that. Um and so we need to have the moral guidance of saying you know this is bad this is not good and and we you know should not explore in these uh realms with reckless abandon.
So um yeah I just I I I think ultimately that all correlates um to the expansion of spirituality the expression of the mind going beyond the borders of ourselves but it's just uh me basically stating a processes through observation that I have seen and um they all have significance uh culturally um and we see it happen in real time.
Perfect example, too, would be like the Appalachin Mountains with um moonshine.
And that correlation, it's far beyond just simply a a liquor. It is a kind of spirit of rebellion. It is a connection to uh ancestral ties. There's so much involved in these sacred elixirs and substances, but far too often the people that proclaim that the gods are just archetypes are the same people that will proclaim that these substances are the reason for religion. And I think it's the opposite. The archetypes are reflections of the gods. There's there's just another way for us to kind of map out our relationship. And these substances are uh like I want to travel um but the car isn't the reason why I travel. The car is a product of my desire to to expand and to grow. But the gods again teach us over and over and over again that things cannot be done with reckless abandon and that we must have this discipline to press forward slowly. And sometimes these things are left to people who better facilitate this. The the you know uh in our culture the magicians the the the priest classes etc. But even they too can have great folly in in uh exploring in reckless abandon. So I think I think that's where all of that comes from. I just drugg in the u mushroom and and uh cannabis part as well. But I think it all has that relevance.
>> Yeah. My understanding of the spirits is that it is the distillation process. It is reducing something to its most essential element to its the spirit of it to the thing that's fundamental. And I think that that is why there's the overlap. Um, but yeah, all the things Swan said, just that little linguistic bit.
Uh, Swan, what does Nivea mean specifically in reference to Frig?
>> Nivea. Uh, do we have that spelled out?
>> Yes. N I >> ed J A. So all right >> I mean I know >> it means it means relative of or descended from. So uh I think it says nia friia in the text means like kin of frig or children of frig descendants of frig.
Um I say that not because I'm super genius.
I say it because I've seen this in the queue for a while and looked at it on side and looked at the etmology on the side.
>> Well, and we we see this with uh even Lady Cif and her connection to the word uh uh sib or sibling. And it it's no I don't I don't think it's a mystery. The the goddesses are deeply connected to Hull culture and the family. And so the connectivity of the goddesses in relation to well relation is often used in in the verbiage to emphasize their heavy placement within um family culture.
>> So um something else that I' I've neglected for overly long on this I apologize I saw it earlier but we got lost in some of the discussion. Um, GW Farnsworth, you are awesome and we appreciate you and your generosity is amazing. Uh, and continues to impress.
Uh, thank you so much. He donated $25 each to the pavilion and towards paying off uh, Cigar itself. So, thank you so much. Much appreciated. I'm sorry it took me so long to acknowledge it.
Um our next question question specking or spawn how important do you think the blood of Kavaser is for a musician >> uh indispensable I think that the inspiration so I'm not a m musician I've done more like speaking and uh poetry and things like that but when I see uh the construction of music and you can just that that outpouring of emotion uh whether through a tool or whether through oratory I I think it all is correlative but I think it's worth understanding that uh Lord Clausier is in a different form he's no longer bound in shape uh in the body but is permeates he permeates through and he has he was um disseminated into the world by Lord Oin. I don't think that's accidental in the story either. Um that his inspiration is measured out by one of the gods of cosmic order. So it again it's heavily emphasizing the power of word and inspiration and um ecstatic magics that pervade in our in our culture and um I think that that applies just as much to music. But I also think that Lord uh Braggi is a culmination of that power. Um being the son of Lord Oven. Um and the fact that the uh blood of Quasier is one from Gunlo who her name means the battle song. um all of this correlation I I don't think that there is any uh separation that they're they're all like muscles in the body interconnected. Um so looking to Lord Braggi for inspiration or access to inspiration and to Lord Oin for access to inspiration.
Um and that Kasier himself is in this state that pervades beyond um and and he is attainable because of the gods and the because of Lord Oin's sacrifice and and will to take that which they had formulated and now is spread apart and layered. I think our ancestors too, they didn't see it as like, oh, this happened once and now the guys who are awesome poets just happen to be walking along and they got the one of the drops from the meat of poetry. I don't think they looked at it that way in a literal sense. No, they were talking about transformation just like as Ali was talking about spirits and distillation.
This process is all metaphorical for the processes of of I what I would say is divine inspiration towards uh both expressing your soul and uh perhaps calling out to the folk to return to the gods or uh to give worth to the gods. But that's not it alone. uh obviously you know we don't have these rules like in Judaism and or in Christianity where it's like you can't sing or dance except in praising uh this one particular god but instead I think the gods revel in us exploring our emotions. I think they revel in us expressing and um presenting our emotions. The the very the very gifts that they gave us and the very breath the in singing is a celebration of those gifts that the gods gave us and it would be an insult for us to not express them and explore them.
But again, we must do all things with a seemly mind and we must consider honor and we must consider nobility in what we do. But I think they're deeply deeply connected.
So next up, is it our duty to talk about the folkish faith to those who are Christian or is it something that is more personal and should be left alone?
Yes, it is absolutely our duty to advocate for, excuse me, for our people's returns in faith of our our our blood.
That said, I don't think it is our duty to be obnoxious or to put them to the sword if they don't like do that right now. That's just not where we're at.
But too often because the your question is juxtaposed to or is it more personal and should be left alone? No, it's not more personal. It should be left alone. If people express that like okay, whatever, shut up. I'm not interested.
then fine, leave it be. You don't need to press it. But we should never be at a place where we're sorry guys. We should never be at a place where we're uncomfortable sharing something that we're excited about.
I'm sorry. Or something that we're proud of. Um, and we should absolutely as a duty to our gods mention this to other people, especially people we care about, but mention this to other members of our folk that haven't found their way home.
It's um a really important thing to do and one of the problems is so many of our people don't know about it. So, there's a difference between you making yourself a jerk by constantly being obnoxious about it and mentioning it and celebrating, being proud of it, being um, you know, mentioning it to those that might want to know.
We have to do that. That's how people find out about this. I wish that someone had told me much sooner than I found out. Um, I've mentioned time and again the biggest uh impediment of us growing faster than we are is that so many of our folk have no idea we exist. So yeah, go out tell people. Um, and I it's not just a nice thing to do.
I do think that's our duty to make those opportunities to create that opening and to share what we know that's so important and invite our folk to come home. Um, absolutely. Uh, Swan, do you have thoughts on it?
>> I mean, nothing beyond what what you said. I think that the biggest thing and I I was speaking to one of my clients about it uh today. He is folk but he is not aletru. And I said that I have no uh proclamation from my holy gods to somehow convert you or uh you know put you under boot because you are of a different mind. But it is good for me to tell you the things that you have forgotten.
Our folk have forgotten.
So just as the gods want to see us govern ourselves, create societies, they also too want us to remind those who have forgotten.
And I think that that's important that we should we should through story, we should through by example, by deed.
We're doing it in many different ways.
But at the end of the day uh expressing that they remember is important. Now if they reject that's fine. You know we are of a faith of wisdom and we know that sometimes people reject that which they most intimately are are battling with.
And you know, if they're looking at the faiths like say the the faiths of the Middle East in in in uh Christianity and they're battling with these concepts, but they can't quite wrap their head around the concept of the multiplicity of the gods, um the ecosystem of of heaven and the middle world and and the processes and the circulatory system of ignoril. That's a lot of stuff to kind of get. It starts with just little seeds and you should always move towards that.
Now the bigger thing too is bearing in mind folk who are not true are in the Utgard but the Utgard is not always bad.
It is there are those who are neutral and those who are antagonistic.
Anything that tries to destroy the order of our faith, we must defend it. It is our duty to maintain our order and that which comes from the outside. But if there is neutral then speaking to them and and affording them the uh civility that they deserve that's totally within our faith and our spectrum.
Um, so I just want to say this. There's squabbbling in the chat about cannabis and other stuff. I will answer the question when we get to it. Please hold on and don't let whatever the passions of the discussion are get in the way until we can actually talk about it because I do want to get to your question when it comes up.
Uh, were the fa fairy folk demonized by Christians as evil demons? I think that the fay and then wild gods like I think of the fay and then wild gods like Pan.
Yeah, absolutely. any any entity that is external to Judaism was demonized by the the early Christians and Christians today. That's how that works. So that would certainly include the fa. It would include, you know, any and all other gods besides Yahweh and um, you know, it would include your uh, ancestors in the form of Alathar or Dere. It would include, you know, any ghosts, any literally anything that's not angels or saints or Yahweh or Jesus, I guess. Um, any anything other than that is necessarily demonic in their in their expression.
>> I go ahead. anything anything worldly because the the fay or or the lanveteer um pan in particular in relation to like herds and the flock and anything that is worldly is so rejected that it is immediately demonized. the um that there there is such a rejection to um uh the vitality of procreation.
Um it it it's socially acceptable in Christianity at certain purviews, but it is not um acceptable in others. And then I think every religion including ours has the if you take it too far, if you let it rule you, if you let it consume you, that's bad. And that can apply to all things, not just worldly things. But it is it's particularly visceral for Christianity. And that's why they, you know, they have their demons uh or the shadim is actually what they're called, but they use the Latin uh word and the Greek word demon. um you know they they're they have horns, they have hooves, they have uh earthly anim animalistic um uh appearances and uh they I think in the northern realm so that was predominantly around the Mediterranean but in the northern realm it started off with a demonization but that eventually led to what I would call like a minusculeization of the spiritual world uh where the tota and the the uh the bogey or bogart. Um yeah, they became seen as small and little and you know just cuz they can't get rid of it, so they're going to just turn it into something whimsical. And um same with the troll. The troll is probably the closest linguistic title we have for uh what would be comparative to like a demon in a Christian sense of like a a a a monster or a beast that can do these kind of same or has these same malicious intentions. Um but everyone thinks of like a naked little being with a gemstone in its belly button. And that's that infantileization.
The idea is to make everything that is of the old religion seem childlike and and infantile while um theirs is is intelligent and uh correct and true. So um I I have to take one moment.
>> Okay.
So, um, do Alvar include fairies, uh, Thompton, gnomes, sprites, fay, uh, viter, uh, leprechauns, etc. Yes, absolutely they do.
Um, what is the AFA's stance on cannabis consumption? I've heard of ritualistic drinking. Is there any aspect to cannabis too? So the pot question, I realize we have an international audience, so realize that we're based in the United States and I'm sure the rules are different for different stuff, different places. No, inherently the AFA has no anti-cannabis stance or really a proab stance. Um, our stance on drug use is the AFA is not going to encourage anybody to do anything illegal wherever they're at.
That is strange in the United States when it comes to cannabis because many many states now it's legal and perfectly fine, but federally is a different story and that creates a lot of strange hurdles. But fundamentally, no. The AFA doesn't have a big um stance on cannabis particularly uh other than, you know, if you're going to do something that's legal where you're at, fine. Uh don't if you're at AFA events and whatnot, don't you know blow pot smoke in people's face that don't like it because it's still kind of a something a lot of folks aren't necessarily comfortable with. But, you know, we if you're grown and it's legal where you're at, we don't have a big stance on that. Um, and also true, we push a lot more personal responsibility and whatever the the argumentation on the side and I caught a little bit of the discussion.
No, I I don't think that we have any case to be made that it's dangerous or whatever else that way. Uh, I think that what is important is it's kind of an emergent issue.
You have some people who are in their 60s, 70s, 80s, that it's the worst thing in the world because they've been told their entire life it was this horrible thing have a little bit of grace to understand where those people are coming from. There's younger people that have never really had that message to find themselves in their 20s that don't get what the rest of us are talking about.
Me, as a man in my 40s, you know, all growing up, it was the worst thing ever.
it was going to is gateway drug going to do horrible things to you and then all of a sudden no never mind just kidding guys we just made all that up. Well that's kind of hard to reshuffle some of people's programming on it. So let's have a little bit of grace with each other on knowing that people come from different places with that. But no, we don't have a a big stance on cannabis and we don't have a lot of evidence of cannabis use in our lore in our history.
we do a little bit more when it comes to psychedelics.
And again, psychedelics are largely illegal most places, so we're not encouraging you to do that. But conceptually, there's a case to be made for their spiritual use. Um, in what you're saying with the cannabis as far as like comparing it to drinking rituals, some of the same things might apply. One of the fundamentals to um drinking ritual in an alu context is that it socially lubricates. I mean we all know that alcohol does that but it breaks down walls that would prevent proud men from interacting with one another in a way that leaves them vulnerable.
It allows for a situation of shared vulnerability and shared susceptibility to a deeper and different level of thought on some stuff. And I think and and I say this as somebody who's never not that I've never tried cannabis, but I've never had I've never had I've never had much of an experience with it. Um, growing up in Alaska, it was like, you know, this big thing. Oh, they they grow this awesome weed up there or whatever.
That never did much for me. It made me hungry one time. Um, and then, uh, you know, a few years ago, a friend of mine had a vape pin with like very distilled from a dispensary cannabis. And that again I didn't get a spiritual experience out of it but I couldn't move like my entire body would not respond to my brain signals to it. It was a very strange experience but I've never had any like that inthe-middle where you're more contemplative. That's just not been my experience. But I don't you know suggest that couldn't be the case. But no, the AFA has no particular the AFA certainly doesn't have a ritual position for cannabis use in the same way that it does alcohol. Um, but it also doesn't have a particular stance one way or another other than don't be the stereotypical pothead that's dumb and lazy and slovenly and whatever. But I don't think most people who use cannabis are that guy. I think that guy is a caricature of the very worst scenario with that. Um, so you know, you're an adult, make responsible choices, I think is the AFA stance on most of those things. Swan, I skipped a question because you were gone that requires a little bit of nuance for Matt and Swan. Today, my daughter attended an interfaith church service at her scouts summer camp primarily to spend time with her friends. While I understand the social pull at her age, I wonder that such blending blended gatherings may blur the reverence for our ancestors, gods, and folkways. How would you advise a mother uh in approaching this with a teenager?
Additionally, how might I gently encourage more recognition of ancestral ancestral faiths within future scout church services?
Uh, Swan, as the father of a teenager, um, what what say you on this subject?
>> I think the biggest point is identity.
I think that a lot of folks, maybe boomers, Gen X, um, early Gen Y millennials, can think back or look at information of, um, say the Native Americans and go, "Oh, wow. It so nice or it's amazing or or whatever that the these people have this identity. They have this connection to their ancestors and they're celebrating.
The same would go for us. I would implore you to tell your children this is our identity. This is who we are.
This is what makes us different from other people. And it goes all the way back. Um it's not about necessarily the compar comparison the correlation whether it's ancient songs for a certain group of people or ancient dances it is the same for us that these sacred rights these communions with the gods holding the horns um make us uniquely us and I think that in an age where identity, especially amongst folk children, is demonized, we should go the opposite direction and encourage our children to embrace their their identity, the identity that is handed down to them by their ancestors and that they in turn will hand down to their descendants. I think the biggest thing that I have encountered is not so much the influence of others um but modernity in and of itself and the fact that many young children who are um kind of getting spread out into the monoculture of modernity.
They're the ones that are also fighting for identity. And there is also just a certain sense that your children are going to try to uh do their own thing and find themselves. But if you maintain that beacon that this is our identity, this is our people's faith, this is our people's way, no matter what level, whether it's rebellion or if it's just a simple sense of, oh, I'm going to do things differently, which is a trait that our people have. I think eventually they do run back to an understanding that no no I am of these people and this is my people's way.
>> Yeah. Um couple of thoughts. I think you know putting your foot down and forbidding it is probably not the best way. that's probably going to create a resistance and a um it's going to probably have the opposite effect of what you want. And I think it creates and make something a big deal that doesn't have to be.
I also wonder and I feel like an interfaith and it depends on on where you're at and what part of the country and what the situation is, but an interfaith thing is lame and it's kind of the worst of all the worlds because it's not wholehearted. Um, so I don't really think inclusive religious services like that are good in general.
I think they're the worst for everybody.
Um, I remember when uh I was with this this black guy that was bouncing with me named Ahmad and uh Nelly was teaming up with Florida Georgia Line and making country rap. And we both just looked at each other and like no when Nellie's singing country music we all lose. Like you don't have to blend the two things. Like it it just makes it the worst of both worlds. So, um I wouldn't push that other than if asked and when it comes up, you know, I would what I would avoided. There's a fine line between forbidding something and refusing to approve something.
I don't think it's okay and I would not say it's okay under any circumstance, but me not endorsing it is not the same as forbidding it or making it a huge deal. Like, hey, what do you think about this? Well, I'd prefer you didn't. Um, I know you got time with your friends in other situations, but I think as a as a matter of loyalty to the ICER, I wouldn't want to attend a a church service not devoted to their worship.
And I think that that's probably what I would suggest on that front. On your second one about more recognition of ancestral faiths, I would make sure that your children have the option not to do the religious stuff that the others are doing. But what I wouldn't do is try to ruin something for everybody else. And that's what I think we need to be really cautious of. If you've got a scout troop and 99% of them are Christians, let them have their Christian service and do your own thing when you have time to do that. Um, trying to trying to facilitate something to where everyone gets what they want, what they want is good, but sometimes when people can't get that, they try to facilitate so nobody gets what they want. And I don't think that's good. Um I don't think stopping everyone else from a sincere partition participation participation in their faith is beneficial. what I think is important and I have no I haven't interacted in the scouting system since sixth grade so I don't know um but if it comes up I would be very open that you and your family are also true and explain what that means. I would never shy away from that. And if there are projects or merit badges or things relating to faith, I would enthusiastically do those under an an alatru um interpretation of them and you know proudly participate in that and I think that that might go a long way. I would only really worry about advocating for stuff if in some way your child was being pressured or made to do something against our faith. Um, but again, those are my thoughts from a great distance and not really knowing some of the specifics. So that might vary um depending on your circumstance.
And the last question for tonight, if I had religious feelings, I would want them to be for Alentry. I don't think my feelings are unique. How did our ancestors deal with a lack of any religious faith?
Swan, what would be your response to that?
>> So, one of the big points Yeah. Um, and I think it Hilda Davidson talks about this is the negotiation of the place in the world was left up to the the person who is the being of will and we spoke about that earlier. So you are a being of will. your your soul is being projected into the world through your will and uh so there's that sense of freedom.
Now I I don't mean it in the just nobody can tell you what to do or or no that's not the point of that is that once you lock your will to something it is incumbent upon you by honor to uh continue to do it. It's so uh it's not about just I'm not going to do what people want me to do. No, it's it's your will. And this applies culturally across the board. Our ancestors saw that if someone had an even momentarily, an ill look. There are many times in the sagas where um the a warrior who loses family or loses a loved one and can't understand why the gods would do this to them. Um and they had a sour perhaps a sour look at the at the divine. Um it was generally seen that our ancestors would say well you know that's the path they must walk um in negotiation with the divine. Now, I think it would be far more ludicrous to them if they were to say, "Oh, there is no divine." But, you know, it's much easier for people to say that now because they look at the minutiae of science as some sort of defense. And that's because Christianity is unique in its deism where it creates this uh system uh nameless faceless un unapproachable everywhere all the time everything judgmental you know deity without being able to look at any of the details as to where and what and again or it's selective.
Oh, no, no. It's all love because it we're focusing specifically on this rabbi who's uh Yeshua, but no, no, he's not Yeshua. He's Jesus. And he's not a rabbi. He's that amorphous God. It becomes very confusing.
So, I think that a lot of monotheism and modern day western Christianity has led our folk into a disillusionment.
and on top of that science and has become kind of like this uh back and forth stick against whereas I think in also true when we look at science and we look at the m the majesty of the way the world is built we see the gods there and they the intricacies and we know that nothing in the universe works in its singularity and that nothing is just simply sourced only from the masculine.
There is masculine, the feminine, there's push, there's pull, there's interaction. We see it in the gods, we see it in nature and it makes sense to us and we don't reject and we don't um toil with this conflict.
But if you are a person who feels wronged by the divine, that their will has somehow overridden yours.
You know, in our culture, the idea would be for you to rise up, not in a sense of, oh, I'm going to uh beat the gods, but no, it's like despite all hardship, I will arise.
uh gods and ancestors be, you know, snubbed by by this. I'm going to rise.
And in truth, I think the gods do that.
Sometimes they expect that in us to rise because sometimes some of us are so hard-headed that we can't listen to the gods. We have to experience things outside far outside of our comfort zone.
Um but you know from a historical sense most of the time it was this person has a does not have it's like the opposite of troth with the gods. They have a a bad relationship. The gods have not sent them a good lot in their life and that is you know it's best not to talk about the gods around them. They are very very touchy about it. Um etc. And it was seen as again it was just part of the ecosystem of the way that they dealt with spiritual issues. Um but as we have gone you know a lot of people say like oh you can't get into politics and being in an alatatru isn't about politics or you know it's like that concept is like okay so our ancestors only did mono I mean uh monarchies so we should all be monarchists no governance is the point and as our folk have encountered a bigger understanding of the world that the gods knew we would. They're watching to see us and how we negotiate and act.
It's always a frontier.
It's not just a frontier physically that we go into conquering and creating an internal frontier as well as we move into the unknown about ourselves. and they're watching us and they want us to be honorable and that doesn't always indicate that they need to complicitly be part of it. But now is a unique time.
Back then everyone was true. the the the the the uh conversion of of Olaf Thrigveson and all them coming in and doing these things that was seen more as like a political thing. It wasn't like the power of uh Jesus riding in on the Pope's surfboard uh shooting laser beams. They didn't have that like oh no no this was a political entity that was buying land, taxing people, utilizing marriage. it was causing issues and then on top of that it's like these people are abandoning the gods of our ancestors the gods that we've known and and what does that mean what are the gods doing and that's a natural thing I think that they were asking was why were the gods you know let this happen but as we have in our understanding now the gods saw this happening and again the frontier must be crossed these things must be learned I don't think that we I I know we don't have a book that states that the gods are demanding of us to react or act or do these particular things like in other religions. So we are not bound by the strictures of um you have to act this certain way. But the gods want to they want to see us act. They want to see us do that which really guides our heart. And that ultimately is is the same thing that a parent wants. I know that they use parentage as a an example all the time, but they really don't.
It's it's it's an instruction manual with parenting, but we know in reality there are times when you're not going to be there to instruct your child. And so you want your child to that that moment is scary, but that they're going to have to react. They're going to have to engage and they're going to have to utilize the gifts that you gave them even though you're not there to press the button or flick the switch or give them the script. And that's the make or break moment. And uh and and they can come back from it and all of those things. But um I think ultimately if you are battling or struggling with faith um the world and the world around you it can be very confusing. I think that you should seek out and I'm not speaking about other religions because again you're going to get somebody who is explicitly built on trying to convince you and convert you because soulwinning I I have these booklets um from when I was younger of of these uh like soulwinning suggestions where you just like uh once you get them to a certain point break out your Bible and show them this cool stuff to kind Yeah, you know, and sparkles and smoke and all that. That's ridiculous.
What you should do is seek the wisdom of wise people and ask them these questions. And those wise people are not going to be afraid of your confusion and and they're not also going to they're not going to hate you for it because wise people know sometimes life and things are confusing. So when you have these questions and you reach out and you say I don't understand why the gods or if the gods or what the gods and wise folk will tell you that's okay that's totally understandable and that you must start small you must start with that very little waves of implement of will in front of you and maybe you go your whole life doing that but if you have the chance and do partake in an understanding of seeing the great web of all of that interconnectedness that those are the steps leading towards seeing the divine, seeing how they interact with us, seeing how our ancestors interact with us and over time you you become aware and it's it's not about uh prostilization. And it's not about uh you know being the Jew in Egypt screaming from the mountain and throwing the book at you. It's not the way our faith works. So I would say take into consideration the words that you are told and the the genuine nature of this wisdom and you start small and don't come at it with a knee-jerk rejection because this our faith and the gods do not work in this kind of um political apparata that might be you know the the church or the caveat of the church. Instead, um, the world around you is divine and the folk around you, many of them have pathways to help you find a relationship with the powers that are outside of you. The gods, your ancestors, the land spirits, they're all there. It just might take time for you to get there.
All right. So, that was a lot. Um, first the how did our ancestors deal with that?
It would be preposterous for us to have a detailed thing on how they deal with it because that's not something that was written about or documented a lot. We don't do know it occurred. Uh I forget which saga it was but we talk about there's mention of somebody who doesn't place faith in gods. He only places faith in his own hands or whatever.
So it was a thing we had people but it wasn't a religious smorgus sport. You didn't have like people choosing different faiths but I think you always had people who were more connected to alsetatru and people who were not.
One thing that was important is the basic rituals that bonded you with those around you and with society.
And I think this is a similar thing to Christians that go to church on Christmas and Easter and they celebrate Christmas and Easter and they, you know, show up at people's weddings and funerals and say the right things but have a wide variety of different belief that existed amongst our ancestors as well. We have stories of uh aeric and the Goths during his time struggling with uh an insurgent Christianity amongst their folk. And the big thing was no, we're going to bring around this wagon. You're going to have the communal feast celebrating our gods. Are you going to share in our, you know, in our bloat meal that we're having or not?
doesn't mean you have to have some deep abiding relationship with the gods, but you have to have a willingness to participate in the folk way of your people. And I think that part was enforced like, hey, get over here. We're doing bloat. You know, stand here and shut up and be present. Okay, good enough. I think that was kind of a a social standard. But what I want to and I mean that answers the question but I think there's a deeper implication of the question I want to mention about our gods have never had the proposition that the Abrahamists have of a complete submission wholeheartedly to all of the things or else you will die or be tortured.
eternally or whatever their punishment mechanism might be. That's not present in house.
There's no expectation that day one you you weren't true yesterday, but today you saw this podcast and now you know now you got to be alru. So, you have to be 100% devoted to all of our gods and all of our goddesses starting tomorrow or else that's not fair. Our gods are good.
Good beings treat people a lot more reasonably than that.
What is invited is for you to approach the gods with a degree of openness.
Not that you have to immediately have belief, but what's really important is wanting to believe.
And I think that if you reach out to the gods, if you go to your altar and you make offerings, don't do it under any false pretense that you have some deep abiding abiding belief, but say, "Hey, here I am. I don't know if you guys are there or not. As you said in your question, you want to be alert or if you were religious, you would want to be alert."
And I think deep down we all want to be religious even if there's um arguments in our head that that prevent us or that hamper our ability to wrap our minds around religiosity.
But a lot can be gained just going in front of your altar and saying, "Hey, here I am. I want to believe.
Here's some meat. Here's some incense.
Here's a cookie. Here's whatever.
I'm here. I'm listening. You know, halo then or whatever.
And and see an openness of mind and an openness of heart go a long way to facilitating that initial connection.
What I think often helps people, but not in every case, but um something that is often helpful is starting with your ancestors, starting with I think inherently in the human condition, people believe that their dead loved ones exist beyond the veil.
When asked, no, people scientifically don't want to sound silly. They won't try to justify it. They can't quantify it. They can't make an argument. They can't they can't science it.
But in their quiet moments, they talk to their ancestors.
And that's very common. They walk by a picture on the wall and they're like, "I love you, Mom. I wish you were here with me. You know that is common to the human experience.
When asked to justify it, we can't.
Science confounds us. You like, "Oh, no, of course that's silly. Of course, whatever."
But we all do that because part of us knows that's a thing. Lean into that.
Reach out. Say, "Hey, I hope I hope that you hear me. I hope that you're there.
here's an offering. I remember you. Uh my mind and my heart are open. That openness really goes a long way to let it take hold of you and build over time.
We talk about the gift cycle that's kind of fundamental to our worship.
Making an offering and then being open to receiving their gifts is the start of that.
We over complicate a lot of things. We think we need to scientifically justify these things.
I can't scientifically prove to you that there's Asgard and you know Odin sits on a throne in Valhall and does this and does. I don't need to. What I know is fundamentally true is when I pray to Odin and give bloat to Odin, someone hears me and I feel that to my core and they bless me for being part of that.
I know that a thousand%.
My ability to quantify it in acceptable peer-reviewed scholarly journal terms doesn't negate that or or justify it. It doesn't need to be justified. It just is.
Don't get caught up.
You know how to interact and build relationships. We all do. We do since we're babies. Before we have language, we know what a a loving touch is versus a cruel touch. We know what a kind sound of a voice is versus an angry sound of a voice. You know how to begin to reach out to other living things and extend a kindness and then to receive and feel a kindness from them.
Start there. It really is that simple.
It doesn't have to stay that simple, but the spirit or the distilled essence of it is that simple.
So get back to that and I would encourage you to reach out and see if you would like to be religious then try.
If you wish that you were also with an open mind and an open heart, try to be alert for a bit and see how that goes. And that's what I would encourage that you do or anybody else who's listening that finds themsself with similar thoughts or similar, you know, questions would do. Um, but yeah, I appreciate you guys all for being with us on the show tonight. appreciate everybody's great questions. Spawn, thank you for imparting your wisdom to us. Um, and Nick, appreciate all that you do.
Thank you for everybody that donated this evening. We've had some generous donors. We appreciate that. Next week, uh, I will be on with our law speaker talking about an adulting topic of his choosing that we're waiting to hear about. So, no doubt that'll be good. And uh yeah, till then, hail the eyes, hail the folk, hail the AFA, hail Alexander Rug Mills.
>> And remember, victory never sleeps.
>> Good night everyone.
Heat.
Heat.
Heat up here.
Heat up here.
Heat up here.
Heat up here.
Heat.
Heat.
Heat up here.
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